Lifting the veil
by Mazza666
Summary: AU - One day at work Sookie begins to realise that she has special "abilities" and returns home to discover that her husband, Bill, is not what he seems. Will Eric help her, not only to deal with these revelations but in her fight for her very survival?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fan fic so be gentle! I've been an obsessive reader of all the great work out there, so I thought instead of lurking, I should try writing and this idea wouldn't let up.**

**So the premise is that Sookie is telepathic/resistant to glamour etc but rather than having these powers from childhood they are just sprung on her one day while she's an adult. Vampires etc exist but there has been no Great Revelation. Sookie is married to Bill but I am most definitely Team Eric, so don't despair!**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters, of course.**

The first time it happened I was at work.

I tend to work the day shift at Merlotte's these days. Bill, my husband, leaves for work in Shreveport just before dawn every morning and is always home fairly late at night. This way I get to spend my evenings with him. He'd rather I didn't work at all. Bill's parents left him a lot of money when they died so I didn't need to keep my job as a waitress when we married, but I've always been fairly independent and, to be honest, he works such long hours that I'd go mad just sitting around the house all day on my own. There's only so many places to go shopping if you live in a town like Bon Temps!

I took an order over to the family at Table 5 – a husband, wife, and three small children who were all vying for attention. I didn't recognise the woman. I could tell that she was probably about my age but she was so tired, she looked much older. As I placed her order on the table, she sighed, saying "I can't believe I was stupid enough to get knocked up a fourth time – I'm going to go crazy with another child. What am I going to do?"

I assumed she was talking to her husband but he ignored her and continued to tuck into his burger. She sounded desperate so I tried to reassure her: "My Gran always says that a woman always finds the exact amount of strength she needs t deal with anything life puts at her door. I'm sure four kids is going to be hard work but I'm certain you'll do a fine job".

She looked at me blankly at first, and then her eyes flashed with anger: "Who told you I was going to have another baby?"

I looked at her incredulously: "You just said it – I..I'm sorry if I was intruding...."

"No I didn't."

"You didn't what?"

"I didn't say anything at all". I could tell she was starting to panic and I saw her glancing quickly at her husband. Her youngest child, probably less than a year old, started to cry.

Her husband chose this moment to to look up from his fries. "Kathy, what's this all about?" He asked quietly but there was a hint of menace in his voice.

She looked at him, fear clouding her eyes. "Sweet Jesus, now I have to tell him – he's gonna be so mad. How are we going to afford another one? But he'll make me have it all the same. Oh Jesus."

This time I was looking straight at her and I knew she hadn't said it out loud but somewhere deep inside me, I knew for sure she _had_ said it. How? Oh God. Realisation spread through my body like poison..... she said it _in her head_.

I excused myself quickly and ran to the employee bathroom. I barely locked the door before I threw my breakfast up all over the bathroom floor.

* * *

After I'd cleaned up the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, I found Sam and told him I was sick and had to leave. He was understanding – there was only an hour or so left of my shift and I was never normally sick. Hell, Bill was always working so much I often did my shifts and other people's too. But Arlene made a catty remark about me wiggling my tits in his face so I could shirk off work. I was so shocked that she would ever say something so openly hurtful and blatantly untrue to me. I turned to her in full battle mode, not in the mood for her pettiness, when I realised from her facial expression that I'd done it again.

She hadn't said it out loud.

I had nothing left in my stomach to throw up but I ran to the parking lot and dry-heaved while bracing myself against the side of my car. When I had regained a small amount of composure, I smoothed down my hair and clothes, jumped in my car and headed to the one person I knew who would know what to do, who could make it right – my Gran.

* * *

I pulled up outside my Gran's house, which is just over the cemetery from the house I live in with Bill. Funny, I've been married to Bill for almost a year now but I still think of this old farmhouse as home. I still spend so much time here.

As I walked up to the porch, I had the feeling again. I could _hear_ my Gran begging someone not to hurt her, not to take any more. Holy Jesus – any more what?! There was also another feeling – a blankness or void – like there was a second set of thoughts in the house that I couldn't access but knew were there. Frantic, I picked up the garden rake from the porch to use as I weapon and burst in the front door, running into the kitchen where I knew my Gran to be.

She was there collapsed on the kitchen floor, holding her hand to her neck.

Standing over her, eyes hard and blood on his lips, was my husband, Bill Compton.

* * *

I screamed, "Get away from her!" Gran's panicked and confused thoughts were overwhelming my senses but I knew sure enough that my husband had been hurting my grandmother and I had to stop him. Fear and adrenaline pulsed through me as I ran at him with the rake but he rushed towards me at such a speed that I gasped as he wrenched the rake out of my hand and threw it behind him.

He grabbed my arms: "Sookie, Sookie – calm down. I need you to look at me..."

Gran shrieked at him to let go of me. And he whipped his head around angrily "Be quiet Adele and stay where you are". Gran stared at him blankly and didn't move from her spot on the kitchen floor.

I struggled against him as he made eye contact with me again. "Stop struggling darlin'. I want you to relax. You're safe." His gaze was so intense and almost instantly I began to relax. I felt as if Bill's fingers were gently massaging my brain. "You've come home early darlin' to find me and your grandmother sitting at the kitchen table, laughing and discussing the Civil War. Your grandmother is fixin' your favourite meal. You're happy and contented and will not remember any of this, this ugliness, tomorrow."

It felt like I was under water – not drowning as such, more pleasurable than that – but my senses were dulled, I felt cushioned, safe and surrounded. But then something in me clicked, moved into place in my mind and at that moment I knew it wasn't real, I wasn't really safe – I knew I had to use all the strength I had to fight this feeling, to claw through the water and reach the surface.

I screamed like a banshee shocking Bill into breaking eye contact with me. I yelled at him to get away from us and called him a monster. Bill suddenly looked panicked and grabbed my arm again.

I screamed at him, tears streaming down my face: "Get off me. Get out. Get out of this house! You're not welcome in this house!"

He immediately let go of my arm. And started walking backwards towards the door as if compelled by some strange force. He yelled "Sookie, please!" but I continued to scream at him to get out. As he passed over the threshold I slammed the door in his face and bolted it.

I had to stop my knees from giving way underneath me in the hallway and got myself to the kitchen to see to Gran. I could hear Bill continuing to plead through the door but ignored his shouts. She was dazed and confused but seemed to be otherwise unharmed, save for the two puncture marks on her neck.

I got Gran to bed after wiping some antiseptic ointment on her wound. I still couldn't get to grips with the fact that my _husband_ had done this to her. Bill seemed to have given up outside so I got myself a stiff measure of some good whisky that Gran kept aside for guests and sat down in the kitchen. It burned my throat but focussed my mind on the day's events.

Firstly, either I was going insane or it was fairly clear that I could read certain people's thoughts. Next, Bill had bitten my Gran and had, what, ingested her blood? My stomach turned at the thought. I knew that he had almost certainly attempted some kind of mind control on me to make me forget what I saw. As I went over the scene again and again in my mind, I was positive that this was not the first time he had done that to me either. Certain thoughts and memories seemed heavier, foggier than others and I remembered the underwater feeling from our altercation earlier. Last but not least, it seemed that he had been compelled to leave when I told him to get out and leave the house.

My heartbeat increased and nausea raised its head again as realisation came crashing down around me. I was no fantasist but Gran had always said that "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..."

As the last of the whisky scorched my belly, I knew it was true, even though my rational side knew it was impossible – I could read minds and my husband was a vampire.

I felt faint and put my head between my legs like I'd seen people do on TV. What was I going to do? This couldn't be happening to me. At that moment, a knock on the front door shocked me out of my contemplation.

"Who is it?" I called as I walked towards the door. Using my new "skill" I tried to feel for the thoughts of the person knocking but felt a void, emptiness, no thoughts. God, please don't be Bill...

A man's voice, not Bill's, replied from the other side of the door: "Mrs Compton. Please let me in. I'm an associate of your husband's. My name is Eric Northman."

* * *

**A/N: So please review. Let me know if you like the concept, I've got an idea where I want to take it but all ideas welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Thanks everyone for such lovely reviews and adding me to your alerts/favourites. It's true what they say – reviews are like crack. I'm addicted already! But it certainly inspires me to update, so here we go...**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters. Unfortunately, I do not.**

I could feel the blood drain from my face. Shit! The void could only mean one thing; the person behind the door was the same as Bill. He was a vampire too.

I stayed silent but I could hear my heart pounding inside my chest.

"Mrs Compton" the voice continued, "Please open the door. I just want to talk to you."

"Please go away," I shout-whispered through the door. I had given Gran a sleeping pill before putting her to bed but I didn't want to risk waking her and causing her any more distress. "I have no desire to talk to anyone who is _associated_ with my husband." I was beginning to panic, the door to Gran's farmhouse was old and, despite the bolt, I didn't know how it would hold against a creature of the night who wanted to knock it down.

"I know it is late but I really must speak to you tonight."

"Leave me alone and tell Bill to leave me alone too." And then almost to myself, "I know what you are."

"Ahh. Well that changes everything, does it not?" the voice sounded amused. "If you truly know what I am then you will know that I can't enter your house without an invitation, so you will be protected with me on the porch and you in the house." He paused and continued, calmly, but there was something in his voice that made goosebumps appear on my arm, "You will also know that I could have broken that door down the second I arrived."

* * *

Who knew how much I really knew about real vampires and how much was just stuff I'd seen watching the Lost Boys? I didn't even know they existed until tonight. All I could really rely on was what I gleaned from Bill's behaviour this evening – he was compelled to leave the house when I told him to get out, so I suppose it was logical then that this vampire wouldn't be able to enter if I didn't invite him in. I knew too that the door would not hold out against my brother Jason in a drunken funk and it seemed to me that tonight Bill had exhibited strength and speed above that of a normal guy. I guessed I had nothing to lose – I slid the bolt across slowly and opened the door.

I don't know what I was expecting when I opened the door but it certainly wasn't the Adonis standing on the other side of my threshold. He was huge – about 6 foot 5 – broad-shouldered, with shoulder-length blond hair tied back in a loose ponytail. He had the most handsome face I had ever seen and although he was wearing a grey suit – well-cut and expensive-looking – I could make out the outline of his chiselled chest underneath his tight-fitted black shirt.

I mentally slapped myself. This wasn't a hot guy come a-knockin', it was a vicious creature, and the last one I'd crossed paths with had been drinking the life out of my grandmother.

He smiled at me, his whole face lighting up and somewhere deep in my stomach I felt my body respond. I slapped myself harder. "Thank you for opening the door Mrs Compton, I am Eric Northman."

"You should call me Sookie. Given the events of this evening, I don't think I'm going to be calling myself Mrs Compton for much longer, do you?"

His face remained impassive as he gestured that we both sit on the floor on our respective sides of the doorway. He was silent for a moment as if in deep thought and then he spoke, his voice low and even. I thought I detected a hint of an accent. "I know you must have many questions. Maybe we should start by you telling me exactly what your interpretation of this evening's events are and we can go from there?"

"I don't see how that will help," I snapped.

"Please Sookie, humour me." He had caught on fast regarding the name thing, and I didn't feel immediately threatened by him, so I decided to indulge him.

"Well, it's not a long story really - I came home from work to find the man I married sucking blood from my grandmother's neck. On discovering the scene, I tried to fend him off with her garden rake but he was too fast, too strong." I paused and took a deep breath, "He attempted to get into my mind to make me forget what I'd seen, I resisted and, I guess, rescinded his invitation to my home. Is that how it works?" I impressed myself with how calm I sounded on the outside, on the inside the sickness that had been plaguing me since this afternoon was starting to rear its ugly head again. I swallowed and waited for him to respond, praying to myself that I didn't throw up. Again.

"Yes that is how it works. We cannot enter a home without invitation and we have to leave when that invitation is revoked. What interests me more is you say that he attempted to get into your mind..."

"We? So you and Bill are... vampires," I almost expected Eric to laugh; it sounded so stupid once I said it out loud. He didn't.

"Yes," he said simply.

"And the getting in your mind thing, that's something you can all do?" If he had noticed that I hadn't made direct eye contact with him since opening the door, he didn't let it show.

"Yes, glamouring is the main way that we are able to keep our existence secret. Of course some of us are better than others. Bill's skills are obviously lacking in this area..."

I was starting to catch on now. "So... you're here to clear up Bill's mess..."

"Yes."

And then he whispered, "Sookie".

I felt compelled to look up at him and felt the same feeling as before, his fingers caressing my brain, his voice waterlogging my senses. He said my name again and it felt like velvet. But just as before, I snapped away from it. I had the feeling that Eric probably was better at controlling minds than Bill, his power seemed stronger yet more delicate at the same time, but, now that I knew what I was looking for, I was confident that I would not succumb to it again.

Eric frowned and then quick as anything his face was impassive again.

"And if you can't..." I said slowly, not much louder than a whisper.

He looked at me, inclining his head slightly. He said nothing, his eyes calm and unblinking.

"I see." And I did.

He sighed and made to get up out of his sitting position – in the blink of an eye he was standing upright. "One thing I do not quite get Sookie?" He paused as he smoothed down his suit picking off an invisible piece of lint; I began to tremble, my heartbeat was deafening now. "You say that you attacked Bill with a rake on discovering the scene. Was the rake in the kitchen? If not, how did you know to bring a weapon with you into your grandmother's house."

I hesitated, "I, I heard her being attacked."

His eyes bore into me. "She was screaming?" And then under his breath, so low I wasn't sure if I actually heard it, "Fucking amateur."

"Um, no." He looked directly at me and it was as if his startling blue eyes could see right through me. I decided to go for broke. I had no doubt that, invitation notwithstanding, if he wanted to kill me to keep me quiet, there was little I could do about it.

So I used all the energy I had left and stood up and told him the truth.

"She was screaming, but it was in her mind…. I seem to be able to, what I mean is, I think I can read minds."

He eyes stayed on me the whole time but I had to look down, it was too intense. "Can you read my mind?"

"No. Not yours, or Bill's, it's like a big blank, where the thoughts should be. That's how I knew you were a vampire when you knocked on the door. It's only something that I've recently learnt to do but no, not you."

I looked at him, steadily, and I felt something pass between us. Just as suddenly it was gone. I took a deep breath, "Are you going to kill me now?" I whispered.

"Sookie, Sookie, Sookie. What am I going to do with you?" His tone was back to amused. "You have managed to negotiate your position from Bill Compton's collateral damage to a sought-after supernatural commodity in the space of a two-minute conversation. I'm starting to understand what Compton saw in you - aside from the obvious, of course."

I felt myself blush at that – mental slap! – focus! Did this mean he wasn't going to kill me or not?

As if answering my question, "You don't have to fear me now Sookie. I won't hurt you. I suddenly find myself feeling quite protective of you."

I blushed again. Deeply. And for some reason I believed him. For now.

Suddenly, Eric's head whipped around to look out into the dark over the porch. "Compton," he muttered and I instinctively took a step backwards, further into the house.

Bill approached the porch. He was so pale out there in the dark, it was as if he had a slight glow – how in the hell had I not noticed this before? "Sookie, please, I must speak with you."

I glared at him. "We have nothing to discuss."

"You're my wife," he snarled and he'd never looked so inhuman, even when my Gran's blood was smeared on his face. "You are mine".

Silent tears began to slide down my cheeks. How could I have been so wrong about someone I had loved so much? "You married me under false pretences Bill. Lied to me for years. Attacked my grandmother. I owe you nothing and I certainly don't belong to you." I couldn't help but notice Eric smiling at that. I'd leave that to process later.

"I should call the police on you for attacking Gran but I know you'll only glamour them anyway". I felt proud of my use of the vampire vernacular. Bill just looked winded. "Either way, you should stay the fuck away from the both of us."

All of a sudden, he rushed at the door but quick as lightening Eric stood in his way and had him around the neck, restraining him as he continued to yell that I was his. "Compton" he said calmly, "you need to calm down and learn when you're not wanted."

"Yes Bill" I sneered, through my tears, "You're not welcome here."

"Sookie," Bill screamed, "you cannot trust him." I didn't even see the point in responding at how hilarious that statement was coming from my perfidious undead husband. Bill struggled but Eric put more pressure on him, I heard something snap and he yelped like an injured dog. I surprised myself at how little I cared.

"Eric," I paused, and both he and Bill looked up me, Bill's eyes were wild but Eric's were so deep blue, I momentarily lost my train of thought, "I think we have more to discuss but I'd prefer to do it without an audience." He nodded and before I could react, he'd pushed Bill forcefully off Gran's porch and into the dirt driveway below.

"I suggest you leave the lady and I alone to talk, Bill," his voice was dripping with condescension, "or face that consequences…"

Bill pulled himself up off the ground, fangs bared and glared at us both. A second passed, as if he was considering his next move, and then he turned and headed back towards the cemetery. Almost to himself, I heard him say: "This is not finished between us." I shivered and looked away.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks, determined to be strong in front of Eric. "I'm so exhausted, I don't think I can do much more of this now. But I need to know why he turned, why he attacked Gran the way he did. I can't even think about what might have happened if I had not come home…"

Eric was silent for a second as if considering his words very carefully. "I think it was probably less the case that you came home to witness a random attack and more that you interrupted Bill's usual feeding..."

I looked at him aghast but he continued.

"It is very rare for vampires to settle into long-term relationships with humans but if you look at it purely from a supply and demand point of view, it is makes a lot of sense."

I slumped down on the floor again as the room started to swim around me. "So what you mean is that, that Gran has effectively been Bill's Meals on Wheels for as long as he's been in Bon Temps, been with me."

Eric looked at me silently, a flash of pity in his eyes, waiting for me to catch up. Oh God.

"Not just Gran," I whispered.

"For us, sex and feeding are often intrinsically linked. But for a vampire as young as Bill, he would also need other… sources of sustenance… to maintain his hunger. I would imagine there may be others in the community in addition to your Gran that he also fed from. It is what I would do if I were as young as he."

"But surely someone would remember? I have no bite marks like Gran? How is it possible?"

"Bill would be able to glamour you all into forgetting the less savoury aspects of his interactions with you. You say that you have only recently developed your telepathy – it would seem that your resistance to glamour has evolved alongside that ability and you have been living in ignorant bliss for the past few years." It really wasn't possible for me to feel any more nauseous. "As for the bite marks, they can be healed." He looked pensive. "Do you have any gauze?"

I guffawed at the random change of conversational direction. He continued to stare at me impassively, so I silently went to the medicine box in Gran's kitchen and brought back a roll of gauze as requested.

I chucked it at him across the open doorway. He caught it, one-handed of course, and tore a bit off. Quick as a flash, he bared his fangs and lifted his right index finger up to one of his super-sharp teeth, piercing the skin. He rubbed his finger on the gauze and it coloured with blood. I stood watching, fascinated at the display.

"Wipe this on your Grandmother's bite marks before you go to bed. The wound will be healed by morning. I take it Bill was successful in erasing _her_ memory of tonight's events at least?"

I sighed, "She's confused and has a vague idea that something bad has happened. But as to whether she's aware that her grandson-in-law is an lyin', cheatin', creature of the night? No, she doesn't know. I'm hoping tomorrow that I'll just be able to convince her that she had a bad dream…. If only I could be so kind to myself."

"Good" he said, more to himself than me. "I need to be going, dawn is not far off, but I think we have much more to discuss. I would like you to come to Shreveport tomorrow. I own a bar there. Maybe we can answer some more of each other's questions. Say 9pm?"

"Umm...Okay, I'll see," I said hesitantly. Was this a good idea? I knew there would be more I needed to know and the small part of me that wasn't over-tired and overwhelmed was actually happy to have someone to discuss the telepathy issue with. I couldn't stay inside the house forever, could I?

"Here are the details." He took a card out of his inside pocket and handed it to me across the threshold. As I went to take it, he grabbed my arm with such speed that I hardly saw him move and before I knew it I had been pulled onto the porch. I gasped for breath at the pace of it all and just as soon as I knew what end was up, he had tilted me backwards and kissed me deeply in a swoonworthy motion that would have Rhett Butler green with envy. Just as quickly as it had begun, he stopped, ran his tongue along my lower lip and then stood me up.

"Delicious," he smiled, fangs fully out again. I closed my eyes, desperately grasping to regain my equilibrium. I heard him say, "Until tomorrow night…" and when I opened my eyes, he was gone.

I went inside and bolted the door, exhaustion making my feet feel leaden. Before going to bed, I managed to apply some of the bloody material to Gran's neck without disturbing her sleep. I got into bed without showering or even brushing my teeth and cried myself to sleep.

**A/N: I hope that chapter answered some of your questions. All reviews gratefully received! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you all so much for all the review/alert love. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.**

**Charlaine Harris owns these characters.**

I woke the next morning, slightly disorientated from being back in my old bedroom, but after a few seconds the events of the previous night came flooding back to me with a force that made be wince. I wanted to pull the covers back over my head and ignore everything for a little longer but I could hear Gran shuffling around in the kitchen and the smell of breakfast wafting through the house. I took a deep breath, grabbed my old robe from the back of the door and went to face her.

We exchanged good mornings as I entered the kitchen and I went to fix myself some coffee. I could tell from her thoughts that she had worked out that I had stayed the night and had figured that I had had some sort of fight with Bill. It didn't seem that she remembered last night's events at all.

Her thoughts towards me were so loving and concerned that I immediately burst into tears.

"Sookie darlin', what's up?" she soothed, pulling me into a hug and rubbing my back like she used to when I was a child. "What is going on with you and Bill?"

Her mind was racing through a number of scenarios and I could tell she was worried that I'd found out that Bill was having an affair. I didn't want to lie to her but at the same time I knew, for her own safety, that I couldn't tell her the truth. If she'd even believe me, that is.

So I proceeded to go along with her suspicions without actually lying. "I've left him Gran. He's been lying to me since we met and he married me under false pretences. I can't believe I was such a fool."

If I was expecting a lecture on the sanctity of marriage, I didn't get it. Gran just stroked my forehead, smoothing the hair that had fallen into my eyes and tucking it behind my ear. I hugged her tighter as she told me that I was beautiful and strong and that I'd find a way to work through it all.

If her actions took me by surprise, her thoughts had me inwardly reeling. I'd always assumed that Gran had a very high opinion of Bill, because he was a handsome Southern gentleman with polished manners, who shared her love of history. But I realised that, despite these things, she had never really trusted him, although it was something she couldn't ever quite put her finger on.

Not for the first time, I wished that I were as perceptive as my grandmother.

I pulled away from my Gran's embrace and looked at her, calmer now. I noticed that the bite mark had indeed disappeared from her neck, just as Eric had said it would.

"Gran, whatever happens, you have to stay away from Bill. Do you understand? Don't talk to him and definitely do not let him in the house. He could be dangerous."

She went to say something but caught my eye and just nodded. She held me again and this time we both cried.

* * *

My shift started at midday. I spent the first few hours desperately trying to block out the thoughts of everyone frequenting the bar. Most people's thoughts were somewhat mundane, save for the fairly disturbing sexual thoughts belonging to a couple of my male customers and I really didn't need to hear my brother reminisce about his date last night (or, more particularly, the afterparty). But far worse was the clamour of everyone's thoughts together. I couldn't stop them crashing into my mind and at times I could barely think through the din. By 4pm, I'd already exceeded the daily limit prescribed on the Advil packet and had to take a break in Sam's office.

Sam came in to check on me. Away from the clamour of the customers, I suddenly noticed that the tenor of Sam's thoughts were different from most people. I could still detect his thoughts but instead of complete thoughts and sentences, I could just detect feelings of concern, mingled with a hint of desire. I wasn't stupid, I always suspected that Sam was sweet on me but having it confirmed from inside his head was a bit uncomfortable.

Sam eventually stopped fussing and left. I lay on his couch, with a wet towel on my head, thinking about what I was going to do about my situation. First thing's first, I had to stay away from Bill just as I had warned Gran to do. It wasn't going to be easy, what with him living across the cemetery and I had a feeling that he wasn't going to let this go. Gran had offered to go across and pick up my clothes and toiletries while I was at work. I knew she would be safe during the day, so I had thanked her and given her a list of what I needed.

There was also the issue of me being married to him. Ugh – that thought made me sick. But what did that mean anyway? He wasn't even technically alive and I was betting that wasn't legal in the good state of Louisiana.

Finally my thoughts turned to Eric. More specifically onto that kiss on the porch. I shivered when I thought about him ghosting his tongue across my lip and briefly thought about what else he could do with that tongue given the chance… For God's sake, I really had to reign myself in! He was gorgeous yes, but he was just as dangerous as Bill – my instincts told me probably more so – so I had to be careful. Yet something deep down made me think that I could trust him; I didn't think he had lied to me yet and I knew that I'd need his help if I was to get Bill out of our lives for good.

That decided it - I would have to take Eric up on his invitation and go and meet him at his bar tonight.

* * *

When my shift eventually ended, I rushed home from work and jumped in the shower. Okay, so maybe I took a bit of extra time making sure my skin was super smooth and my hair was extra shiny, so kill me?

Once I had dried my hair into soft waves, I concentrated on my outfit. What does a girl wear to a bar owned by a vampire god? I briefly considered a pair of black PVC trousers that I had from a fancy-dress party a few years ago when Tara, JB and I went as members of Kiss but decided that would be trying too hard. In the end I settled on a simple red dress. It had one shoulder and hugged my curves, so I felt sophisticated, but it wasn't too dressy or too casual. High black pumps and my gold crucifix necklace (What? It couldn't hurt!) finished off my look.

Jason arrived just as I was ready to leave. I had arranged for him to be with Gran while I was in Shreveport. Gran had made chicken pot pie so he didn't even question why I was so insistent he come visit that evening. It wasn't often, but sometimes his simplicity could be wielded as a weapon for good. I looked out of the window into the dark before leaving the house, wondering if Bill would be laying in wait. Then I took a deep breath and walked out the front door - if I thought like this, Gran's house would become my night-time prison.

That said, my new-found bravery didn't stop me running to my car and locking the doors as soon as I got in.

* * *

It took me about an hour to get to Eric's bar. There was a woman and a man standing outside the unassuming entrance – I walked towards them, noticing from their brain patterns that they were both vampires.

"Sookie Compton?" the woman asked as I approached.

"Yes," I replied, "although I'll be going by Stackhouse again from now on."

She gave me a smirk and then introduced herself: "I'm Pam, Eric's second."

I looked at Pam, in a fairly conservative baby pink shift dress, pearls and killer heels and mentally congratulated myself for leaving the PVC at home.

She looked at the red-headed vamp beside her: "Clancy, I'm taking her in." Clearly, Clancy didn't warrant an introduction.

Then she turned to me, still smirking and drawled: "Please follow me."

If I was expecting a vampire-owned bar to be a melange of black leather and red neon, I was sorely disappointed. It just looked like a normal bar and a fairly classy one at that. Pam, led me through the gathered throng. From the voids in my head, I could tell there were mostly vampires in the bar, a couple of people had muffled brain signals just like Sam, and there were a few whose thoughts I could read very clearly, though their thoughts seemed fairly sluggish.

I revelled in the peace that resulted from mostly vampire minds and at the same time relaxed at the thought that at least I wasn't the only human here. As I followed Pam, my mind wandered on to what vampires would drink in a bar such as this and I began to panic slightly as I realised that it was probably glamoured humans, their spaced-out minds being the thoughts that I could detect around me.

By the time we approached the booth where Eric was sitting, my heart was beating ten to the dozen. He had abandoned his sharp suit for the evening and was stretched out like a cat in the sun, wearing dark jeans and a tight black vest. Holy Jesus his arms were bigger than my thighs! I took a deep breath, grateful that I was the one that could read minds and not him. Eric looked amusedly at my crucifix, or was he checking out my rack? Either way, I suddenly blushed and he smiled smugly.

"Sookie, welcome. Won't you have a seat? Drink?"

I asked for a gin and tonic and Pam wandered off to get it. He continued: "So how are you feeling about your little… awakening… now that you've had a day to process things?" I didn't think he was mocking me, he sounded almost sympathetic but I couldn't tell for sure.

"I guess I'm coping," I replied. "The main thing I can't get to grips with is how naïve I was. I mean I know that Bill glamoured me but really, there were signs – leaving for work before dawn, both Gran and I were anaemic a couple of years ago and, you know, he was so pale..." He smiled at that. "But who puts these things together and comes up with their husband being Dracula? God, I feel like Lois Lane but stupider."

"Except Clark couldn't wipe Lois's mind, Sookie – it's not quite the same," he smiled. He made me feel better but it wasn't as if he'd never glamoured anyone, was it?

"You know who Lois Lane is?" I digressed, but I didn't want to dwell too much on the abuse of power that could happen where one party could erase the other's mind. The thought that I'd had sex with Bill but would never be able to recall all the real details made me feel like I'd been roofied. To stop myself from curling up and shutting down at the thought, I pursued a lighter topic with Eric. "Bill didn't get pop culture references often, I would've assumed that was a vampire thing..."

He laughed, "Lois Lane is hardly recent pop culture, Sookie, if I was going to try to impress you, I'd go with a Gossip Girl reference."

Now it was my turn to laugh, "You watch Gossip Girl?"

"I've seen it, yes. Pam's a big fan."

As if on cue, Pam passed beside our booth and handed me my drink. "I think Chuck Bass would make the perfect vampire," she cooed and then sauntered off towards the front door, presumably to check on things up front. I laughed again and felt a bit lighter.

"So I didn't ask last night but how did you know what had happened between Bill and I? What made you come to my Gran's house?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"The only thing Bill did right last night was call me when he lost control of the situation. We may be vampires, but we have a very specific chain of command in place."

"Oh, so you're like his boss then?" I asked curiously.

"Something like that, yes," he sounded amused again.

"And, you're boss of everyone here as well…?" I swept my hand and indicated to the patrons in his bar.

"Yes, I am the authority in this little piece of Louisiana," he smiled, clearly rather proud of himself and his position. I stifled a giggle and moved the subject on.

"Yesterday, you alluded to the fact that you were older than Bill…" It was a leading question.

He didn't seem to mind: "Yes, Bill is fairly young for a vampire. I believe he was turned some time during the American Civil War."

I snorted, "That explains why he used to bore me death with all those battle facts. I was always so grateful when Gran would take him off my hands for a while!"

He chuckled, "Yes I can imagine that would be less than stimulating."

We both went silent. Fuck it! I'd bite: "So how old are you?" I didn't mean for my voice to sound quite as coy as it did.

"I am not sure exactly but over a thousand years old. In my human life I lived in what is now modern-day Sweden."

Woah, that was difficult to comprehend! I did the math: "You were a Viking?"

"Yes, " he smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at me like I was a wench in need of a good pillaging. I had to laugh.

Just then Pam zipped over to Eric and whispered something into his ear. At the same time, the vampires in the bar seemed to part and make way for someone walking towards us.

He was fairly short with white-blond hair cropped very close to his head. He looked no older than a teenager at first glance but something about the way he walked and the capacity for cruelty I detected, barely hidden behind his icy blue eyes, told me he was much, much older than that. But more disturbing than the obvious authority this man carried was who was with him.

A couple of paces behind him, staring at Eric and I with a dark smirk on his face, was Bill.

Eric ushered me out of the booth, ostensibly so we could stand up and meet our guests. In doing so he breathed into my ear, surreptitiously: "Say as little as possible. Trust me."

I wasn't going to argue. I had the feeling I was in a lot of danger here but if I was going to throw my lot in with a team, it was going to be the one which Bill wasn't on.

The stranger approached our booth: "Sheriff," he sniffed haughtily at Eric. He then turned to face me, cold eyes boring into me.

Eric turned to me and gesturing to the new arrival said, "Sookie Stackhouse, may I present Andre. Consort to the vampire Queen of Louisiana."

**A/N: DUN, DUN, DUN! Hope that's not too much of an irritating cliffie! **

**All reviews gratefully received. Your comments really do spur me on and give me some good ideas for the future.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone for all the support you've given to my little story. The sheer undiluted hatred for Bill in some of your reviews had me in stitches! **

**Hopefully this chapter will answer some questions in relation to both Bill's and Eric's motivations…This is a monster of a chapter, so enjoy! **

**Charlaine Harris owns all rights to these characters.**

There was a vampire queen? Holy shit! And did he just call Eric a sheriff? I had so many new questions but, remembering Eric's words, I willed myself to keep my mouth shut. No easy feat for me.

Andre didn't look like the type who'd want to shake hands, so I just nodded and waited for him to address us.

"Northman, the Queen has been informed about Compton's human and the events of last night. She is _most_ displeased. She requests that you both accompany me to court to discuss the matter further." I felt myself tense at his words. His voice was as glacial as his gaze and emphasised the letter "s" on certain words in a way that reminded me of a snake.

"Of course," Eric replied impassively but even I knew he must have been seething if Bill had taken the matter to a higher authority. "It is important that her majesty meet Ms Stackhouse." Bill snarled, presumably at the mention of my maiden name, and I gave him an insolent smile. It was childish but I didn't care.

Andre looked directly at me, assessing me with his eyes. He may have been attempting a smile but it came across more like a sneer. "Let us not keep her majesty waiting."

Following a silent car journey to a private airfield, we were ushered up the steps to a small plane. Where the hell were we going? I was starting to get really scared now and from the way Andre was smiling at me, like a predator toying with its prey, I was pretty sure the vampires could all tell just how much. I looked to Eric for reassurance – he gave me a smile but I noticed that it didn't reach his eyes.

I hated flying. The only time I had been on a plane was on my honeymoon with Bill – night flight, of course – and he'd been fairly impatient with my flight anxiety. I wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction this time and, to be honest, the plane falling from the sky was the least of my worries at the moment.

The cabin had two sets of double seats facing each other towards the front and some padded flip-down seats at the rear. I made my way to the double seats and picked one by the window. Eric strode over and sat down next to me; Bill sat opposite, glaring daggers at us both. He hadn't said a word since he arrived at Eric's bar but I had caught him smiling self-satisfyingly a couple of times and it unnerved me. Thankfully Andre had made his way to the rear of the plane and proceeded to make a number of phone calls in low hushed tones that I couldn't decipher.

As the plane made for take-off, I closed my eyes and started to breathe deeply in and out to calm my nerves. I felt a pressure on my knee and I knew it was Eric trying to soothe me. I put my hand on top of his and gave it a quick thank you squeeze, but kept my eyes closed until we landed in New Orleans – it calmed my nerves and also meant I didn't have to look at my husband.

The palace was situated in a gated compound. Although it was dark, I could see that it was a beautiful old dark brick building with large white pillars and wrought iron balconies. We filtered in through the imposing front door into a large open foyer, filing past a great marble staircase and down a shadowy, but sumptuously decorated, corridor. I could smell the lilies making up the huge flower displays situated at intervals along the corridor – I hoped they weren't an omen.

At Andre's direction Eric and I entered a huge opulent room with a high domed ceiling. It reminded me of the palace at Versailles, dripping with gilt mirrors and crystal chandeliers, luxurious fabrics and more colossal flower arrangements. Andre did not follow us into the room. Bill stayed with him; the prospect of a moment to further ingratiate himself with the Queen prior to our audience was presumably too enticing.

The door to the room was pulled closed behind us. Apparently we were to wait here until the vampire Queen of Louisiana decided to grace us with her presence. It just sounded so absurd.

I perched on the edge of a green velvet chaise longue and looked up at Eric questioningly, grateful for a moment without an audience. "Eric," I whispered hoarsely, "what the hell is going on?"

Eric was immediately all business. He sat down next to me, leg touching mine, and spoke in a hushed tone, "Sookie, we do not have much time, so I need you to listen."

I nodded, not sure where this was going.

"As you know, on discovering that you are aware of our existence and yet can not be glamoured, protocol dictates that last night I should have taken the requisite… next steps. In order to convince the Queen that I was correct in not taking those steps, I will need to tell her about your telepathy. She is very astute. She will not want to dispose of something so valuable, especially at the current time."

"Ok. And then she'll just let us go home?" I asked doubtfully. It all sounded a bit too easy.

"No," he frowned. "The fact that you are telepathic will save your life but it is likely that she will want to keep you here in the palace as a sort of pet, to do her bidding on request. She might decide to turn you, although there is a risk that your telepathy would not survive the transformation; more likely she would bond you to either herself or to Andre."

I began to go to pieces as I felt my eyes well up. "Bond? Turn me? Eric, I – I can't. My home, my life. She can't do that…!"

He continued: "The only way I can see of preventing this is if you and I share a blood bond. Then she may agree to let you leave with me, let you go back to your life, although it is likely that she will still call on you when she needs your service."

My head was swimming. As Jason would say, I was up Shit Creek without a paddle.

"What is a blood bond?" I asked looking him straight in the eye; I needed to get it together.

"You and I would exchange blood. A vampire's blood, especially blood as old as mine, is extremely potent. As a result your senses would be enhanced, you would feel stronger and healthier for a time…"

"And?" I knew there was more.

"As this would be the first time we have done this, the blood exchange would allow me to sense your emotions and locate you when necessary, for example if you were in danger. On further exchanges, the bond would intensify." He paused. "After your rejection of Compton, it would also be a sign to all other vampires, that you are mine."

Mine – there it was, that word again. I was starting to get a bit irritated with vampires and their possessive pronouns. I wanted to tell him that I was 'nobody's' but I figured this wasn't the time or the place to start burning my bra.

"It won't turn me into a vampire?" I asked nervously.

"No, I'd have to take a lot more of your blood for that to happen."

"And if we didn't bond or tell the Queen of my new ability?" I asked. Surely there had to be another way?

"As I said, protocol dictates that you should be killed. She may therefore order your death or, if my suspicions are correct, and Compton has come running to the Queen begging her to intervene in his marital problems, she may allow him to turn you instead." His distaste for Bill's weakness was evident in his tone. He looked directly at me, those beautiful dark blue eyes conveying the severity of my predicament: "As your maker, he would have complete control over you. You really would be 'his' in every sense of the word, if that were what he wanted. I could not do anything to intercede."

The scent of the flowers had become stifling, I felt myself begin to sweat as the room began to spin around me. Bile rose in my throat so I started to breathe deeply again, trying to calm myself and organise my thoughts.

"Why would you do this for me?" I asked quietly. I was curious. He had made it fairly clear that he wouldn't mind having sex with me but that was a far cry from what I assumed would be risking his position with his Queen.

He smiled grimly, "You are beautiful and you intrigue me Sookie, that cannot be denied, but I am primarily a pragmatist and a businessman. I, too, can see the inherent value of having a telepath in my retinue - working for me, loyal to me… And after tonight's events, I also have a strong desire to see Bill Compton meet the sun."

"And exchanging blood with his wife would be the extra cherry on top?" I asked irritably.

"Yes," he admitted. "I'm also curious to see if you taste as good as you smell."

Well, you could say a lot of things about Eric but he was certainly honest. He didn't try and romanticise things and I appreciated that, given the circumstances. I took a couple of seconds to weigh up my options.

"Right, so how do we do this blood thing?" I asked shyly.

He smiled, trying to keep the smugness from his face but I already knew better. He shuffled back on the chaise longue and moved his leg to straddle it.

"I think it would be most comfortable for you if you come and sit between my legs, with your back to my chest."

Knowing this was not the time to be sheepish, I did exactly that. My heart rate was going ten to the dozen and I could almost feel the adrenaline coursing around my body. Eric began to stroke up and down my arms with his hands. "Relax Sookie… I'm not going to hurt you," he breathed into my ear.

He then began to nuzzle into my neck, peppering it with featherlight, soft kisses. He licked the sensitive spot behind my ear and used his left hand to brush lightly across my breast as I felt my nipples begin to pebble.

My breathing became laboured as I felt his desire press into the small of my back, I couldn't stop myself from grinding my behind into him as he continued to kiss and suck my neck – oh god.

My terror subsiding, all I could think about was how turned on I was. "Eric, now," I panted and tilting my head to one side, I offered him my neck. I immediately felt the sharp sting of his fangs pierce the juncture between my neck and my shoulder. He drank deep and then released me with a groan. I heard the sharp sound of his own skin breaking behind me and was suddenly presented with his arm, the skin perforated at the wrist.

"Quick Sookie, you must drink before it closes."

After a second or two of hesitation, I grabbed his wrist and sucked with all I had. His blood was thick and sweet and I could feel its potency as it streamed down my throat. It should have been disgusting but it felt amazing. Suddenly Eric grabbed me tight around my waist, I felt his body tense behind me and he groaned my name into my hair. Shit! Did he just…?

I scooted forward on the chaise long and twisted to look back at Eric. He smiled at me like a cat that had got the cream and licked his lips. "God Sookie," he drawled, "you are delectable."

"Apparently so," I replied, a wry smile on my lips as I glanced down at his jeans.

Slowly, he moved his hand towards my face and cupped my cheek. My breathing hitched. He gently used his thumb to wipe my bottom lip and then popped his thumb in his mouth. My stomach clenched; I really did need to pull myself together.

Suddenly his head whipped around towards the door. "They are coming."

We both sprang up and I patted myself down. Eric seemed completely nonchalant about the fact that he was sporting a wet stain on the front of his jeans. I, on the other hand, was mortified.

The doors opened and the Queen entered the room, flanked by Andre and Bill slightly behind her, and two huge guards behind them. She was very petite, not more than about 5 foot 2 out of her heels if I had to guess, and, like Andre, I could tell that she had been no more than a child when she was turned. Also like Andre, her deep brown eyes communicated a wisdom and a ruthlessness far older than her exterior shell implied. She had beautiful auburn hair piled up in an elaborate do and wore a stunning dress, in a rich green fabric, that probably cost more than I make in an entire year at Merlotte's. I'd never seem someone so glamorous, so coiffed, in person.

"So you're the little girl who has created all this fuss?" her voice was melodic and tinkled around the room.

Eric had bowed next to me, so I managed a little curtsey, and replied, "Yes, it appears so your majesty – I'm Sookie Stackhouse."

She regarded me for a second and then turned to Eric: "Eric, my, my, and there I was wondering why you would take such an interest in Bill's human…" her laugh bounced maniacally around the room. "Would you care to explain yourself?" She still sounded amused but dangerously so, like if we didn't continue to entertain her, the consequences would be severe.

"Certainly your majesty," Eric began to explain calmly. "I arrived at Sookie's grandmother's house last night following a call from Compton. He had been caught feeding in the house and had failed in his attempt to glamour Sookie into forgetting the incident. Following my investigation of the episode, it transpired that Sookie is no longer susceptible to vampire glamour. I believe that this is linked to her powers as a telepath. Naturally, rather than destroy such a valuable asset, I arranged to meet her this evening to assess her skills further in advance of presenting her to your majesty."

"Can she read vampire minds?" the Queen asked sharply, all humour gone for a second.

"No your majesty – vampire minds are blank to her. I have tested the notion and it is true."

He had? When?

Bill seemed to have got paler, if that were possible, and his mouth was hanging open, aghast. After a second he righted himself: "That's… that's not true! Sookie is no telepath. He's lying!"

Eric bared his fangs at Bill but didn't move an inch. The Queen turned to face Bill for a second, a sardonic smile on her face, and then turned to Eric again. She was back to entertained. "He has a point Sheriff. He is the one who is married to her after all. If anyone would know if the girl could read minds, it would be him, surely?"

I noticed nobody bothered to ask me.

She appeared to contemplate the situation for a second. "Let us test our Sheriff's theory shall we?"

She clapped her hands twice over her left shoulder and one of the guards left the room, returning almost instantly with a scantily-clad young girl in her early twenties. Her brain pattern told me she was human. She wasn't scared, simply irritated to have been dragged in by _"one of the Troll twins"_. I tried not to laugh.

"Marietta, darling, I want you to say nothing but to let your mind to focus on what you have been doing this evening. Ms Stackhouse is going to divert us with a very clever parlour trick…"

Marietta didn't seem to think this was a strange request and began to concentrate on the evening's events. Taking my cue, I relayed her thoughts back to the Queen.

"You went to opera together," I said.

The Queen smiled. "Which one?"

Marietta's thoughts immediately focussed on name of the opera. "Carmen," I said confidently.

"And after the opera…?" The Queen tilted her head to one side.

Marietta's thought took a turn and I was immediately presented with pictures of her and Queen in bed naked. "You had sex," I tried to keep my voice steady, "and then…eww." I scrunched up my nose as Marietta's mind went to a picture of the Queen sucking blood from the inside of her left thigh.

The Queen laughed, part babbling brook, part nails down a chalk board. "I think Ms Stackhouse has proven her talent, don't you Bill?"

Bill was clearly fuming but answered quietly, "Yes, your majesty."

"Fancy that, all that time a telepath living right under your nose. One night with Eric Northman and her skills are uncovered."

I didn't have to look at Eric to feel the arrogance radiating from him.

She turned to me. "Well I suppose we shall find a place for you at the palace. Your particular skills will come in incredibly useful over the next few months – there are changes on the horizon and the balance between human and vampire is due to shift." She didn't elaborate. It was Bill's turn to smile.

As I began to get flustered, Eric addressed the Queen. "If I may, your majesty, Sookie has agreed to make her skills available to us on request. As I have already exchanged blood with her, I think it would be happier for all involved if she were allowed to return to her home… under my supervision of course."

"My, my, Eric, you are just full of surprises tonight," she trilled. "A blood bond – that was fast work."

"Yes your majesty," his voice was expressionless. I noticed the smile had been wiped off of Bill's face.

"I take it you have only exchanged blood once so far?"

"That is correct."

I couldn't keep quite any longer when my future was at stake. "Please your majesty, I'll be a much better asset to you living at home, happy, than kept somewhere against my will, and I need to be amongst people, humans that is, to be able to develop my skills in order to be of any use to you."

She seemed to consider this for a moment. "Fine. You shall return to Bon Temps and come when I call you." Andre did not look pleased. Bill even less so. "Sheriff, I expect that blood bond to be _augmented_ over the coming months or I shall rethink my recent kindness. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes your majesty."

There was one more thing that needed to be dealt with while I was here: "Your majesty, sorry to bother you further, but there is one more issue that I would like to discuss with you," I asked nervously. Andre and Bill both turned to glare at me but I took a breath and continued. "I want out of my marriage to Bill, if it even is a legal marriage. I never would have married him if I had known that he was using me and my loved ones to feed upon. Everything I felt was predicated on his glamour. Now that I know the truth, the thought of being around him makes my skin crawl. I-I can't bear to think of him as my husband, living in the house across from mine, seeing him every day..." My voice trailed off, I was tearing up but I didn't care.

"Sookie, please, I love you," Bill cried out but we all ignored him.

The Queen inclined her head, closed her eyes and sighed, as if faraway, "You and I both know something about being tethered to a man we despise, do we not?" I presumed she didn't mean Andre although I was desperate to ask. She seemed to contemplate her next words. "You do realise, however, that your _ability_ will ruin you for human men? Try conducting any kind of relationship with a man when you can read his thoughts. You may find yourself yearning for your deceitful husband when loneliness kicks in," she laughed. "Although, maybe you plan simply on trading one vampire for another?" She looked from Eric to me mischievously, Bill snarled.

Frankly, I had no intentions of doing anything other than surviving this evening but I wasn't sure what the right answer was, so kept quiet.

She paused again as if going over something in her mind. "Fine," she said finally. "Your marriage to Bill will be dissolved, I shall have my people draw up the papers. Bill, you have one week to vacate your house in Bon Temps…"

"Your majesty, no!" Bill shouted at the Queen.

Quick as anything, her smile turned to poison. I noticed Andre wheel around to face him, blue eyes laced with ice. The troll twins had also shifted in his direction, although their faces retained the same vacant stare.

"You forget yourself Bill," she said slowly, menacingly.

"My apologies, your majesty," he actually bowed while addressing her.

"You have one week to vacate your house in Bon Temps and I suggest you stay out of Eric's area entirely for the foreseeable future." Bill remained silent.

Finally she turned to me again, "Ms Stackhouse, Eric, you are free to go…. I shall see you both very soon, no doubt."

With that Eric grabbed my hand and led me quickly from the room, presumably before she changed her mind.

I slept all the way home on the plane. Bill hadn't joined us on the return leg, thank God.

Eric had phoned ahead and both our cars were waiting for us at the dark airfield. I didn't bother to question how my car managed to get there while I had the keys in my bag. I suspected Pam was more than capable of grand theft auto.

Eric walked me over to my car and as I went to open the door, he wheeled me around, and pressed me up against the car door with his body. He kissed me, softly at first, but then with a passion that I could feel in my toes… and other places. God I'd never been kissed like that – not even close. As my knees began to quiver slightly underneath me, he grabbed both my legs and hitched them up around his waist.

Part of me wanted to stop him, tell him I was exhausted and overwhelmed, just out of a relationship, vulnerable. The other part of me, the more assertive part, couldn't care less about all that and wanted to keep feeling what I was feeling.

He moved his right hand, which had been fisted in my hair, between us to the outside of my panties. I knew they were still wet from our earlier encounter and as he began to grind his thumb against my clit they became wetter still. I started to moan and grind wantonly against his hand. In a couple of minutes, I felt my insides start to clench as my climax began to build. More probing from Eric's skilled hands and I suddenly felt it rush over me like a huge wave just as he pushed my underwear to the side and pushed one of his long fingers inside of me.

I was shouting his name, overcome with sensation, when I heard him.

"She is mine."

He hugged me to him, stroking my hair, before gently putting me down. As I began to right my dress the high of our encounter was replaced by instant alarm as realisation rattled through me.

_She _is mine. Not _you _are mine.

He hadn't voiced that out loud.

Holy Shit! I'd just heard Eric's thoughts.

**A/N: As usual, I'd love to hear what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm totally overwhelmed by the continued support for this story – thank you all so much.**

**Charlaine Harris owns all rights to these characters.**

"Sookie, what's wrong?" Eric asked uneasily.

Oh Christ! The blood exchange - he can feel my emotions now.

"Um, nothing," I tried to cover. "That was… amazing… it's just that I suddenly realised we were in a public place and began to panic that someone might see us."

Eric chuckled, seeming to buy my excuse. "You really are delightful." He almost sounded surprised at that revelation.

"I really should be going," I said quietly. "And it can't be long till dawn either."

He looked me in the eyes, intense and searching. Carefully controlling my facial expressions so as not to reveal my actions, I attempted to probe his brain again, to see if I could pick up anything from his mind.

Nothing. Void. Maybe it was a fluke?

Eric frowned for a second and then, "I am supposed to be at the bar tonight. It is Pam's night off. Would you consider coming to Shreveport again?" He smiled. "I will try and make sure we are not interrupted this time."

I nodded. I really was wiped out. "Goodnight Eric."

"Goodnight." He brushed his lips lightly over my forehead and I got into my car and drove away.

I didn't awake until midday, grateful, after last night's events, that I had the day off. I washed my face and dragged my hair back into a ponytail before finding Gran in the kitchen and some sausage and bacon waiting for me in the oven.

"You must have needed that sleep," Gran commented. "You look like you're glowing this morning."

I did? Was that the effects of the vampire blood or Eric's manual dexterity? Probably both.

Just as I finished up my breakfast (or was that lunch?) the doorbell rang. Gran went to answer it and I could hear that she was being asked to sign to accept receipt of a package. I walked to the front door curiously.

"It's for you," Gran said, handing me a large manila envelope.

I carefully ripped it open, examined the contents and gasped. There were annulment papers inside with a covering letter from a law firm 'Cataliades and Associates'. The letter explained that, as the marriage had been perpetrated on a fraud, I was entitled to an annulment and did not have to go through the divorce courts. All I had to do was sign and return the papers and, in twelve weeks, my marriage would be treated as if it had never taken place. However, the letter continued, as a conciliatory gesture, Bill had agreed to sign over his Bon Temps property and the money in our joint bank account to me. There were other papers included to transfer ownership of those assets.

I was elated and grinning from ear to ear as I told Gran. I didn't know what to think about the house and the bank account but as usual Gran's wisdom overruled. "Normally, I would tell you to shove his _conciliatory gesture_ where the sun don't shine…"

"Gran!" I gasped, shocked by her use of coarse language.

"But if you own that house, it keeps him out of it." Literally, I thought to myself. "Also if you just sign and return the papers - that's it, done. No more contact, no more discussion. You're free."

"I'm free," I marvelled. God bless the vampire Queen of Louisiana!

With a spring in my step I made my way to go get showered and changed. Gran called after me: "Sookie darlin'. I'm letting this rest for now, but one day, and soon, you _are_ going to tell me exactly what happened between you and Bill…" She used her no-nonsense tone that continued to instil fear in Jason and me, even though we were fully grown.

Oh Shit! Well, like Scarlett O'Hara, I'd think about that tomorrow. Today was a day for celebration.

I took Gran shopping and out for an early dinner – I bought two new dresses and she let me buy her a new hat for church. We returned to the house later that afternoon to find that another delivery had been left by the front door - an absolutely huge bouquet of flowers.

"Bill?" Gran asked confused. But I knew better.

Bill was a dozen roses kind of man, classic and elegant. Red, usually, or if he was trying to be different, white. This extravagant arrangement was all the colours of the rainbow, with huge orchids and other exotic flowers, some of which reminded me of something fairly indecent. The bouquet screamed Eric and I attempted to stifle a smile as I read the card.

_Till tonight…_

_E _

Gran looked at me, appraisingly, left eyebrow raised. Embarrassed, I slipped the card into the pocket of my shorts and mumbled that we needed to get the flowers in water.

Once inside I ran upstairs to get ready for my second trip to Eric's bar in as many days.

I wore one of my new dresses to Shreveport. It was a low-cut, figure-hugging number that flared out at the hips, accentuating my curves and making my waist look tiny. The dress was powder blue with white polka dots; the colour made my eyes and my tan stand out. I left my hair down in vintage-style waves, held back to one side with a red slide. I teamed with red wedge sandals, lips and nails. I looked and felt great – the effect of Eric's blood really was amazing.

It was nearly midnight by the time I got to Eric's bar. I'd left after Gran had gone to bed, so as to escape another eyebrow raise as I left the house in my new flirty finery. Clancy was waiting outside the bar with another female vampire, not Pam. I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed they were voids – I couldn't read their thoughts. Definitely a fluke.

Clancy addressed me as I approached: "Ms Stackhouse, the sheriff is expecting you. He asked me to escort you to his office."

"His office?" I replied, surprised, and slightly nervous that we were meeting somewhere less public.

Clancy smiled, not a friendly smile, a smile that said he was only being polite because he had to. He led me through the bar, which was just as busy as yesterday, into a narrow corridor. He knocked on a door marked private and I heard Eric on the other side bidding us to come in. Clancy nodded at me and then zipped off at vampire speed. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked into Eric's office.

Eric looked at me heatedly as I entered and my stomach performed a little flip. "Sookie… you look enchanting as usual," he drawled lasciviously as I went to sit down in the chair opposite his desk. As I looked at him across the desk, hair down, hard muscles clearly visible under his tight green t-shirt, I wished I had the guts to forgo the chair and just sit myself directly in his lap. Eric smiled at me, knowingly. Oh no, this sensing-my-emotions thing was going to be the death of me.

Once seated, I looked around me. His office was fairly typical; cream coloured walls with a modern dark wood desk, matching shelves and filing cabinets behind where he sat. A black leather couch was pushed to one side of the office and I noticed another door in the back corner. I wondered briefly where it went and then concluded that it was better not to ask.

Eric's desk was covered in papers, strewn all over the area with some underneath his laptop, and I noticed some blueprints peeking out of a buff cardboard file labelled "Fangtasia". (Fangtasia? Honestly, who came up with that?) The top right hand corner of his desk was cleared of paper though and there were about five or six smallish bottles huddled there, some empty and some full of a red liquid. I was pretty sure the liquid was blood.

Eric caught me looking at the bottles and gave me a wry smile. "Samples. Don't worry, it's synthetic."

"Synthetic blood? I didn't know they could do that yet?"

"It's a recent invention. Some Japanese pharmaceutical company came up with it for human transfusions but obviously it has its benefits for vampires too. It tastes like shit but it does the job," he grimaced slightly as if recalling the flavour. "Really, it's the most significant development in vampire history since the invention of the coffin," he joked and I couldn't help but smile.

My mind started whirring trying to process the implications of this.

"The plan is to go public soon," he continued. "Tell the world we exist. Human technology is getting too advanced, we need to evolve and integrate or, powerful as we are, our existence will be one day threatened. The fact that we can survive on this..." he pointed at the bottles, "rather than the real thing means that humans are more likely to accept us."

Wow! That was a lot to take in. Eric was so matter-of-fact about it all, he really was a pragmatist. That said, I knew more than a few people in Bon Temps that would never accept the existence of vampires, synthetic blood or not. I doubted they'd be the only ones.

It began to dawn on me… "I guess when this big reveal takes place, it'll be handy to have someone in place who can read the minds of humans?"

Eric smiled smugly. "Very good. The possibilities are endless – PR, hiring human staff, all kinds of security issues... If a vampire were to have a telepath in his entourage, he would be in a position of strength when this all comes to fruition." He stretched back, hands behind his head, clearly very pleased with himself.

"And what about the telepath, does she get a say in this?" I snapped.

Eric looked surprised. "I would have thought the opportunity to use your skills, a new challenge, would excite you?"

"Why? Because now I'm just a waitress? I don't like feeling that I have no options, no power, Eric. It's no different to being glamoured," I spat.

He sighed. "You met the Queen last night, Sookie, do you want to tell her 'no'? And I thought you and I had an understanding..." His voice was firm. I could tell his patience was on the wane but so was mine.

"And you've been romancing me to help that understanding along…" I accused. "Innocent little Sookie, the great Eric Northman flashes a smile in her direction and she'll do anything he asks?"

He glared at me. "Sookie, if I wanted to coerce you into doing my bidding, there are far more efficient ways of doing so than _romancing _you, as you so eloquently put it. And in any case," he continued matter-of-factly, as if talking about what he had for breakfast or something, "you are mine now."

I stood up out of my chair, tears in my eyes. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. "I can't believe I fell for it," I whispered, revulsion and fear coursing through me. He wasn't any different at all. "You're no less of a monster than Bill is, than any of them."

"Sookie – sit down! You're acting like a child." He was really angry now and I needed to get out of that office. Surprisingly, he let me.

"I'm nobody's," I said defiantly as I exited his office, slamming the door behind me. I hurried through the bar and, once outside, I ran to my car. I lay my head on the steering, willing myself to calm down. After a minute to pull myself together, I put the car in drive and headed out of Shreveport.

I pulled up to the house to see Eric sitting on the porch swing waiting for me. His car wasn't in the driveway – how in the hell had he got here before me?

I took a deep breath and walked up the steps towards him. "I'm sorry I called you a monster," I said quietly.

"You meant it at the time," he said. Did I notice a flash of hurt across his face? It was replaced too quickly with his usual impassive demeanour.

"I did but I don't now. I _am_ grateful for all that you've done for me, you should know that, but this is all just so overwhelming Eric. In three nights my life has been turned upside down. You have to make a teeny allowance for me, let me to catch up. Not all of us have super speed, you know?"

He laughed at that. "I think the way you have dealt with this all is incredibly, actually." He was serious now. "I think you are a remarkable young woman."

I blushed and moved the subject on. "I never got say thank you for the flowers."

"You are very welcome." He smiled and as he stood up to move towards me, I heard a chink of glass coming from his leather jacket.

"Is that a bottle in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" I said, eyebrow raised (clearly something I'd inherited from my grandmother.)

He looked confused for a second. "I thought we could just _hang out_," he said the last two words as if they were a new concept and I noticed his accent again. "So I brought refreshments…" He drew his hands out of his pockets to reveal a bottle of wine for me and two bottles of synthetic blood for him.

"That's perfect," I laughed. "We can celebrate my upcoming annulment." His turn to raise an eyebrow. "That's right – the Queen is true to her word. In twelve weeks, I'll officially be Bill Compton-free." I paused, "All joking aside though, I think we are going to have to talk about what happened before..."

He nodded. "Not tonight though..."

"No, not tonight," I agreed.

I went to open the door. "You'll have to remember to keep it down, Gran is in bed." That had actually sounded naughtier than I intended! Oops...

He looked at me and I smiled. "Eric Northman, please come in."

As we walked into the kitchen, Eric's body language immediately changed. He hissed and began to look around him, eyes wild as if ready to attack. At the same time fear gripped me as I realised I could only sense Eric's thoughts, or lack thereof.

There wasn't anyone else in the house.

I looked at Eric and I knew, silent tears streaming down my face. "Eric," I whispered, "where's my grandmother?"

He growled, a one-word answer, that left my knees buckling underneath me.

"Compton."

**A/N: As you can probably tell, I know absolutely nothing about marital law in Louisiana, so I'm making it all up as I go along. But hey, it is an alternative universe after all! **

**All comments and reviews gratefully received – the more reviews I get, the more stakes I sharpen with Bill's name on them… **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: You guys are great – well over 100 reviews now and so many of you have me in your favourites/alerts! Thank you so much. **

**Truly epic Bill hatred out there. Let's see what we can do about that...**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

I ran to Gran's room and sure enough, the bed covers were pulled back but she wasn't there. There didn't seem to be any sign of a struggle anywhere in the house.

Sitting on her pillow was a note in Bill's spidery script.

_Now you'll know what it feels like to lose someone you love._

_You've given me no option but this._

I sat on Gran's bed, hard sobs racking my body. I couldn't breathe. I'd done this. This was all my fault. I'd skipped off to Shreveport dressed to the nines like I was a freshman on a first date and left Gran alone at the mercy of that fiend. "I told her not to let him in the house," I whispered, mostly to myself. Why did she let him in? There was only one explanation – glamour.

How could I have been so careless? If I'd just told her the truth, told her what he was and what he was capable of, she never would have allowed this to happen...

Eric came into the room, he'd been searching around the house, presumably for any clues or scents. I handed him the note. "It's all my fault Eric. What am I going to do? She's almost all I've got." My voice sounded shrill and alien, like it belonged to someone else.

"We'll get her back Sookie." His eyes were full of compassion. Then his voice went hard, cold. "And when we do, I promise you Compton will meet his final death."

Like that he snapped out of the moment and immediately became Business Eric. I heard him on the phone to Pam, ordering her to meet him at Bill's house, and to other associates giving out Bill's description and his licence plate number.

"Your grandmother's scent stops abruptly in Bill's driveway," he explained. "He's taken her somewhere by car. We need to go over to the house. You may notice something out of the ordinary which could help."

I nodded, numb.

Bill's house, my house, was a wash. If we were hoping to find plans to an underground lair, or even directions to a motel, we were disappointed. As we turned the last of the rooms upside down, Pam arrived, watching us from the doorway.

"Master, everything is in place." Tonight she had ditched the baby pink for a black hoodie and yoga pants. She had a small backpack over one shoulder and a gleam in her eye that looked like she meant business. She nodded at me but said nothing.

There was nothing to say.

We left the house and Eric took my hand leading me across the cemetery and back to Gran's, his thumb gently stroking my skin. It was comforting.

"Sookie." Eric came to stand in front of me on the porch. He didn't release my hand. "Pam and I are going to go follow up some leads but it's only about three hours until dawn and we'll need to get to a resting place before then. I've arranged for an associate of mine to call for you first thing in the morning so that you can follow up any daytime leads with him. Pam and I will see you again at first dark. Do you understand?"

I nodded, silently.

Gran's house, previously a haven for me, seemed eerie and barren. Eric picked me up and carried me into my bedroom and, before I knew it, I was tucked into bed. He sat on the side of the bed and leant over me, sweeping my hair from my forehead and tucking it behind my ear, just as Gran had done the other morning at breakfast. I began to sob again silently at the memory.

He shushed me and kissed my forehead gently. "You must be strong. We will find her." And then he was gone.

I woke to the sound of knocking at the door. I don't know how long I'd been asleep for but it can't have been more than an hour or two. I could feel that my eyes were red and puffy from all the crying I had done. My pillow was damp with tears.

I opened the door to a man, only a couple of inches shorter than Eric, but substantially broader across the shoulders. He was handsome in a rugged kind of way, with vivid green eyes and tousled thick black hair. His initial polite smile turned to one of concern once he took me in – clearly I looked as bad as I felt.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" he asked. I nodded. "Eric Northman sent me. My name is Alcide Herveaux."

I listened to his thoughts as a precaution. He wasn't very easy to read, kind of like Sam, but I could tell that he was telling the truth and meant me no harm.

"Please come in."

I led him into the kitchen and switched on the coffee machine. "Coffee, Mr Herveaux?"

He smiled. "Sure, thanks. And please call me Alcide. Why don't you let me take care of it and go get yourself ready? Milk? Sugar?"

He was right. I needed to get a move on if we were going to find Gran. "Two sugars please but I think I'll take it black today."

"Me too," he replied grimly.

I showered quickly. It made me feel a bit more awake. I dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, pulling my hair back into a low scruffy bun. I didn't bother with make-up. Alcide was sitting at the kitchen table sipping his coffee. I sat down opposite him and he slid me mine.

"So I understand that your grandmother has been kidnapped by a vampire, I'm sorry." I nodded a thank you at him, accepting his condolences. He took another sip of his coffee and continued. "I owe Eric a favour. He asked me to help you search for her during the day. I have particular, um, skills when it comes to tracking people and a few connections that may be able to help us."

"Thank you Alcide. I really am grateful for your help. So where do we start?" I asked anxiously. Bill couldn't hurt Gran during the day, but she'd been gone for anything up to ten hours and the thought of her somewhere, alone and terrified, was too much.

He passed me an envelope. There were photos inside of Bill's car taken by various security cameras, one had him stopping for gas. I didn't see Gran but the pictures were grainy.

"Apparently Eric and Pam managed to track him as far as Rankin County, Mississippi, before they had to go to ground. So that's where we start. It's about 250 miles from here, so we should get on the road. I have a friend in the Jackson police department who's going to meet us in Brandon." He paused. "I'm going to need something with your grandmother's scent on it, a pillow case or a piece of clothing maybe?"

I looked at him quizzically. "You're going to track her by using her scent?"

"Yes," he replied, uneasily.

Okay, that was weird. I tuned into his thoughts and concentrated.

"You're a werewolf?" I asked incredulously.

"'Fraid so," he replied, shrugging.

"My lord - first vampires, now werewolves. Is there anything out there that is really just confined to folklore and fairytale?"

He laughed. "As far as I'm aware there are no such thing as leprechauns."

I smiled at that.

"I'm sorry to blow your mind. I assumed Eric would've told you." He didn't ask how I'd figured it out, I noticed. I wondered if Eric had informed him about my little slice of the fantastical. I somehow doubted it.

"He didn't," I replied. "To be fair, though, last night all happened so fast, there wasn't really time to work on my knowledge of all things supernatural."

I went to get Gran's pillow case and handed it to him. I had a thought: "What about vampires? Do they have a trackable scent? Would it help if we had something of Bill's too?"

"Yes, vampires can be tracked..." Then it sunk in. "Bill's?"

He looked at me for confirmation. "You know him."

"I'm married to him," I replied grimly. "But I'm planning on being a widow real soon."

We swung by the other house and I retrieved one of Bill's shirts from the laundry basket. Alcide inhaled Bill's scent and chucked it in the back of his truck. He pulled away from the house and we were on the road to Mississippi.

We sat in comfortable silence for the first hour. I closed my eyes and thought of Gran, willing her to be safe, saying silent prayers in my head. Alcide stopped to get some gas. He came out of the gas station, holding two sandwiches and a couple of bottles of water. I hadn't realised I was hungry but I was.

"Thanks," I said as I picked the cheese sandwich out of the two he offered me.

He took a swig of water and then looked at me. "So I gotta ask, how'd you end up married to a vampire?"

I sighed, it was a fair question. "I didn't know he was a vampire, I didn't even know vampires exist, until a few days ago. We've been married for nearly a year and I didn't have a clue. I guess he glamoured me into thinking he was normal."

"So what changed?"

I shrugged. I could tell him, it all seemed like a lifetime ago. "I came home to find him feeding on Gran. Bill tried to glamour me but I seem to have developed a resistance to it or something. Anyway, Eric has been helping me to get free of him and yesterday I signed annulment papers." I didn't think it was wise to mention the Queen.

"It seems that Bill didn't take it too well."

"No," I sniffed back tears. I told him about the note. "He seems to be doing this in some kind of misguided way to get me to go back to him."

"Fucking vampires," he cursed and then looked at me as if apologising for the bad language. I shrugged it off.

"Sookie, you seem like a really nice girl.... Too good to be getting yourself mixed up with a bunch of bloodsuckers..." He didn't say any more. I wanted to ask if that included Eric but from the tone of his voice, I was pretty sure it did. Not for the first time this morning I wondered what exactly Eric had over Alcide for him to owe him a favour this big.

Alcide went back to our original topic. "Still, if he wants you back, and thinks he loves you in his own fucked up way, that's good."

"Good?" I asked questioningly. How could any of this be good?

"Yes, if he's using your grandmother as blackmail, there's a good chance he won't hurt her. He'll have no bargaining power if she's dead."

I tried to take comfort in Alcide's words. It wasn't easy.

We got to the town of Brandon just before 2pm and met up with Alcide's friend Tyler. He had the same sort of shaggy good looks as Alcide but he was a few inches shorter and his hair was brown with reddish flecks through it. I noticed his brain signal was similar to Alcide's as well. Was he a werewolf too? My thoughts momentarily flitted to Sam.

Tyler had two maps with him and he'd highlighted various barns and empty properties in the area where Bill might be hiding Gran. I could tell from his mind that he thought it was like looking for a needle in a haystack but he thought a lot of Alcide so was willing to lend a hand. He assumed I was Alcide's new girlfriend. If that meant he was going to go the extra mile, I wasn't going to disabuse him of that notion.

We agreed to split up – Alcide and I were going to take the properties to the west of the county, he'd take the ones to the east. Alcide chucked him the shirt and pillow case and he inhaled the scents. Definitely a werewolf.

I looked at my watch and it was nearly 7pm. We'd searched tens of properties and found no sign of Gran or Bill. We checked in regularly with Tyler and he was having no better luck. I didn't know what time the sun was due to set but I knew it wouldn't be long now. I was beginning to lose hope. We only had two more properties left to search on our side of the map.

As we drove up to the old farmhouse, crumbling from years of neglect and storm damage, I knew she was here even before I heard her thoughts. As we got closer, Alcide pointed out Bill's car parked to the side of the building, hidden from view from the road. We leapt out of the car and ran to the house.

"Gran?" I was yelling to her. "It's okay, it's Sookie, we've come to get you."

I heard her thoughts. Relief; panic at my putting myself in danger too. I could tell she was crying.

Bill hadn't bothered to lock the door, so we made our way in and I followed Gran's thoughts to the kitchen. She was sat on a wooden chair, hand-cuffed to a radiator. She had clearly been through the wringer and her eyes looked like mine had this morning, reddened and puffy from crying. She seemed relatively unharmed though and Bill had left her a bottle of water and some candy bars. Tears streamed down my face, with relief at seeing her again and with anger that someone could do this to an old lady and call it love.

I hugged her as hard as I could without breaking something. She strained against the cuffs to return my hug in a lop-sided embrace. We both cried as I frantically assessed her for damage. She kept saying "I'm okay now darlin'" in a hoarse voice, over and over again, but I wanted to check for sure.

"Gran, I thought I'd lost you..." my voice was cracked.

"I know," she sniffed. "Me too." And then she smiled that warm smile, that had comforted me so many times since I was a child and I immediately felt better, safer, somehow.

"Try to find the key for cuffs," Alcide interrupted. He picked up one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table and broke off a leg. "The sun will be setting very soon. I'm going to track him to his resting place, it can't be far away."

He left a second broken chair leg on the table. "Just in case," he said grimly.

"Gran, do you know where Bill went?" She just shook her head, terror evident on her face.

I began turning over the kitchen, desperately looking for the keys. The light was beginning to fade in the kitchen, I could feel my pulse quickening, my panic increasing with each passing second. The keys weren't here.

"Gran, I'm going to have to leave you for a sec okay?" She looked horrified at the idea. So was I. "I need to find something to cut those cuffs. I'll be real quick."

I ran to Alcide's truck and found some bolt cutters in the back. It was dusk now, I had to be quick. I made my way back into the house with the bolt cutters. As I entered the kitchen I froze. Gran was crying, her thoughts an overwhelming swirl of confusion, fear and defiance. Bill was standing next to her, facing the doorway, eyes dark.

"Hello Sookie."

"Bill," I pleaded in as steady a voice as I could manage. "Please let her go. Please don't hurt her."

He looked at me, desperation evident in his wild eyes. "I just needed you to listen to me. You wouldn't talk to me - I didn't know what else to do to make you talk to me. You have no idea, no idea, how much I love you. How much I've always loved you. I'd do anything for you. Why don't you see that?" He muttered something to himself and then focused on me again. "I can't let him have you... I don't want to hurt Adele, Sookie, I've always been very fond of her. I can make this all go away for her but I had no other way to get you to listen to me..."

I tried to pacify him. Hands out in front of me as if trying to calm a wild animal. I guess in a way that was exactly what I was doing. "Please, we can talk Bill," I said softly. "Anything you want, just please uncuff Gran and let her come sit by me. You're frightening her." I glanced furtively at the kitchen window and then to the improvised stake on the kitchen table. Where the hell was Alcide?

He laughed cruelly then. I'd never seen him cruel before, it was terrifying. "I hope you're not expecting the wolf," he sneered.

"What have you done to Alcide?" I demanded.

"Let's just say, he won't be bothering us any time soon." Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

"What do you want from me Bill?" I whispered. Pleading.

"Isn't it obvious?" he looked at me, as if surprised. "I want _you_. You loved me and I know deep down you still love me. We're married, for God's sake. He's just got in and infected your mind. He's like poison. You can't trust him, you must know that. He doesn't understand what we have."

"My wanting to end my relationship with you has nothing to do with Eric, Bill. You lied to me for years, you violated my mind over and over again. My God you fed on my family and abducted Gran. I could never trust you now, don't you see that? Whatever love I had for you is no longer there.... I can't even be sure it was ever really real. My decisions were never informed or really a hundred percent my own. You must see that." Fresh tears started to fall down my cheek. I was full of despair and I was afraid for Gran and for me.

"You're afraid of me?" Again, Bill seemed shocked at this revelation. I nodded.

"But yet you trust him?" he mumbled rhetorically. He was always so put together, now he just looked broken. "I didn't want you for your abilities. I never knew... Can you say the same about him?" he asked, bitterness seeping into his voice.

"It's not about him Bill. This is about us. Please understand. I can't go back now - you need to let go. To let me go," I pleaded. "Maybe, maybe in time, we could rebuild into some kind of friendship..." I glanced at Gran and she gave me a sad smile of encouragement. It made me feel stronger, more determined. "But this has to end. You have to let us go. If you truly love me, like you say, you will let me go."

He looked at me now, eyes rimmed with red. He nodded and spoke low, barely above a whisper. "I am truly sorry for all the hurt I have caused you." He looked at Gran and added, "Both of you. This is not how I intended for things to turn out."

Bill seemed to sense something outside. I heard it a few seconds later, the sound of a car approaching the house. Relief washed over me.

Eric. I knew it was Eric.

Bill smiled serenely, as if finally putting something together. "I can see why you connect with each other like you do," he said, voice low but calmer now. "You both have the same consummate lust for life. Eric revels in his vampire existence, I can see the appeal of that to someone as vivacious as you. Whereas I have only ever seen this life as a curse... You must know that in nearly 150 years of being a vampire, the only time I felt at peace were the years I spent with you. I just didn't want to lose that but I realise now it was an illusion, you weren't mine to hold onto..."

"I thought I was happy too...," I whispered, silent tears falling. I cried for me, for Bill, and for all that we had lost. "But it's over."

Bill nodded and made his way to the kitchen table, I flinched, taking two steps towards Gran in a subconscious effort to protect her. He looked hurt by my reaction but sighed in acceptance. He took the keys to the cuffs out of his pocket, moving much slower than he had to, in an effort not to startle me. He placed them on the kitchen table and then reached for the makeshift stake.

I didn't put it together until too late. Suddenly realisation crashed into me. I gasped: "Bill, no!"

Bill smiled at me, as if to a child, and with one swift action rammed the stake into his own chest. I screamed and Gran and I hid our faces in each others embrace as Bill's bloody carcass began to disintegrate on the kitchen floor. I heaved, lungfuls of air nearly choking me through my hot shocked tears.

Gran's feet were suddenly unsteady. I sat her down and, hands shaking, used the keys to unlock the cuffs. As I did so I noticed Eric standing in the doorway to the kitchen watching the scene, face expressionless. He'd clearly witnessed Bill's demise but had not intervened. I didn't know what to think about that.

Eric came over to us. "Are you both okay?" he asked. His concern for Gran and I seemed genuine at least. I nodded - physically and emotionally spent, but we'd recover.

Eric crouched down by Gran and introduced himself. She seemed in shock but nodded a polite hello, never forgetting her manners even at a time like this. Then in one smooth movement, he lifted her up and carried her out of the house. I gave a final glance to the kitchen; blood and gore pooled on the floor and I shuddered. Then I made my way out of the farmhouse, without looking back, the fresh air embracing me like an old friend.

Pam was standing outside next to a cream-coloured minivan. As Eric walked towards it with Gran, she opened one of the doors and Eric placed Gran gently on the back seat.

I saw, with relief, that Alcide was sitting in the passenger side of his truck. He had his shirt off and scrunched up in his hand, held up against what looked like a nasty head wound. He nodded at me and I ran over to him, hugging him my thanks.

Pam chucked Eric the keys to the minivan and then got into the driver's side of Alcide's truck. Presumably, he was in no shape to drive. Eric motioned for me to get into the van. I got in the back with Gran and held her to me as we embarked on the long journey home.

"Eric," I whispered and he lifted his gaze so that our eyes met in the rearview mirror. "Thank you."

He nodded at me via the mirror and I could see his eyes warm with a smile.

I turned my attention back to Gran and soon we both fell asleep, safe for now, holding each other close on the back seat of Pam's car.

**A/N: So not quite the end to Bill that people might have expected but hopefully still a satisfying demise. Let me know your thoughts...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: As usual, I'm totally blown away by all your support for this story. Thank you so much.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

We got back to Bon Temps around 11pm. I didn't want to think how fast Eric had been driving the minivan and was glad that I'd fallen asleep on the way home.

After I'd seen Gran to bed, I met Eric back in the kitchen and warmed him up one of the synthetic bloods in the microwave (apparently 15 seconds on full got it to body temperature) and made myself some tea. I guess Eric could feel my worry for Gran through the bond because he broke the silence first. "Your grandmother is a strong woman Sookie, she will be fine. She will get over what has happened to her and so will you."

I sighed. I knew he was right but it didn't feel like that at the moment. "Listen Eric, I know you have your vampire protocol but I was wondering if it were possible for you not to glamour her? If vampires are going public soon anyway, what's the point? I know she'll be able to keep it secret until then and I don't want her to have to be glamoured again for no good reason. Plus, my keeping this from her is the reason Bill was able to get to her. The more she knows, the more she is able to protect herself, even with him gone."

He seemed to consider this for a minute. "Okay," he acceded. "Presumably you will also tell her about your telepathy?"

I nodded. "I have to tell her. I don't want to keep things from her any more."

We sat there in comfortable silence for a while sipping on our respective drinks.

Something was niggling though. I had to ask. "You didn't do anything Eric. When Bill reached for the stake, you could have stopped him but you didn't." It wasn't a question and Eric remained silent. "I, um, was just wondering about that."

He sighed. "Bill made his choice Sookie. He made a number of choices to get him to that kitchen with a stake in his hand. He was weak. That's not a good quality in a human but it's intolerable in a vampire. I will not mourn his loss." Generally I appreciated Eric's truthfulness, but sometimes his candour only served to highlight his otherness. Humans would at least pretend to be sad even if they weren't.

It suddenly occurred to me that I was a widow and the thought made me shiver. Bill was right in a way, I had loved him once, however naively. However much I had wanted him out of my life and was traumatised by his taking Gran, I realised that I hadn't really wanted him dead, just gone. And what about the practical implications of his death? What would I tell people? There was no body to bury and I wasn't sure I had it in me to mourn him anyway, despite his declarations of love, after all that he'd done. I just couldn't expend any more tears over him. Mostly I just felt numb about him. Numb about the entire situation.

I looked up from my tea and noticed that Eric had been watching me intently.

"I should go," he said. "You need to rest..." He slid his chair out from under the table, came over to me and kissed the top of my head. "Goodnight Sookie."

I couldn't deny that I needed time to think and, deep down, I had concerns that Eric could be so nonchalant about tonight's events. But I also knew that I didn't want him to go. As he turned to leave, I grabbed his hand.

He turned back towards me. It took me a second to meet his eyes but when I did he was looking at me questioningly, his eyes intense like dark blue fire.

"Please don't go Eric," I whispered. Oh God, what was I doing? He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine as I stood and nervously put my hand on his chest feeling the hard wall of muscle beneath his t-shirt. I kissed him gently as I leaned into him, finally relaxing for the first time that day. Momentarily he stopped the kiss and pulled my hair down so it fell around my shoulders. He ran his fingers through it and kissed my forehead.

"You are so beautiful," he said, voice low and laced with desire.

"So are you," I smiled. I kissed him again, deeper this time and it felt right. Breaking the kiss with another smile, I took his hand again and lead him through the house, into my bedroom.

He sat on the end of my bed, with me standing between his open legs, so that we were almost the same height and kissed him. I was light-headed, I felt so much heat for this man. I reached down to the hem of his t-shirt running my nails along his stomach muscles and, breaking the kiss, lifted it over his head. His body was perfect, lean and chiselled like a Greek statue.

"Sookie..." he began cautiously, "we don't have to do this now..."

I shushed him. "I want to." It was true. I wanted him, this, so badly. I'd think about the consequences another time.

He didn't need telling a second time. In one smooth move he had grabbed me up by my thighs and flipped me on my back onto the bed. I groaned as he settled himself between my legs pressing his hardness up against my thigh, while kissing and nibbling at my neck. I felt myself arching into him, desperate for maximum body contact as he slid his hands up under my top, the contrast of his cool hands against my burning skin making me gasp.

Before I knew it, he had removed my t-shirt and bra. The heat in his eyes seemed to increase as he took in my body. With a soft smile he dipped his head to take on of my nipples between his lips, sucking and nipping with his teeth but never drawing blood. He palmed my other breast with his hand running his slightly rough thumb against my nipple, eliciting a quiet moan from me as I ran my fingers through his thick hair.

I began to fumble with the top button of Eric's jeans. He still had far too many clothes on and so did I. He pulled away from the attention he was giving my breasts and I almost ached at the loss of contact. He stood at the bottom of the bed and kicked off his boots and slowly undid his jeans as I watched him, desire coursing through me. I bit my lip expectantly as he lowered his jeans. I fleetingly noticed that he had gone commando but that thought was immediately forgotten when I saw Eric in all his naked glory. Holy shit! He was huge. I looked back up at him and he was smiling smugly, clearly feeling my lust and anticipation.

I undid the buttons on my own jeans and in seconds Eric had my jeans and thong off me and on the floor. We were both naked now. We were really going to do this.

Eric grabbed my ankles and pulled me down to the end of the bed so that my legs hung over the end. I giggled with surprise at the move and then quickly put my hand over my mouth remembering that Gran was in the house. He leaned over me and kissed my lips, ghosting his tongue across my jaw and down my neck, making his way over each breast and kissing a line down to my belly button. I squirmed as he butterflied soft kisses across my navel and then made his way lower.

The first time he ran his tongue between my legs, I jerked violently from the sensation. I was already so turned on I could hardly bear it. He began to lick again, up between my legs and then swirling around my clit, as I began to come undone. He probed my core with a first and then a second finger as I writhed on the bed, arching into him wantonly, urging him to increase the pressure. He softly pulled my clit between his lips and began to suck as I moaned, unable to control it now.

"Look at me Sookie," he urged as my body began to spasm and I forced myself through the haze to meet his eyes. He turned his head to my thigh, never breaking eye contact. I nodded my permission as he sunk his fangs into me with a blissfully sharp sting. He drew deep, triggering such an exquisite rush of pleasure, I lost all connection with my surroundings for a few seconds, floating on a wave of pure rapture.

When I came to, I noticed that Eric had moved us up the bed and was positioned above me. I reached between us, stroking him up and down as he rolled his head back and moaned. I positioned him at my entrance and rubbed him against me.

"God Sookie," he growled and I stared into his eyes, dark with heat, as he began to edge inside me.

I had never felt so deliciously filled, so utterly complete, as I adjusted to his size and he began to move inside of me, agonisingly slowly, pulling almost all the way out before slamming into me with a force that made me groan. I felt myself build towards another release as I grabbed his luscious behind with both hands forcing him deeper.

He pushed his body up, hitching my leg higher around his hip. He began to increase the speed of his thrusts, adjusting his angle slightly and I knew I was done for.

He suddenly raised his wrist to his fangs and pierced the skin, offering it to me. I didn't hesitate as I grabbed his arm greedily and pulled deeply on the wound as he shuddered his release inside me, shouting out in a language I neither recognised nor understood. At the same time my finish consumed me, causing me to scream his name and leaving me a trembling mess underneath him. He collapsed on top of me for a second and I revelled in the feeling of his weight pressing down on me.

When we could move again, he lifted himself up and kissed me lightly, withdrawing and moving to the side of me, gathering me into his arms. He looked at me then, eyes full of intensity and feeling. "That was perfect. You are perfect."

I smiled at him. I couldn't agree more.

"Oh God," a sudden panic hit me. He looked at me questioningly, a flash of anxiety fleetingly crossing his face. "Gran must have heard us." I was mortified. How would I face her in the morning?

Eric laughed, stroking my hair and hugging me to him. "Maybe you would prefer it if I glamoured her after all?" I giggled at that – God it was tempting!

The sex fog in my head began to clear and my mind gradually became more alert. "I had your blood again, what will that do to me?" I stifled a yawn and then a suspicious thought suddenly flitted through me. Oh no. "Please tell me you didn't have an ulterior motive Eric?"

He smiled at that. "It feels amazing when you take my blood, I wanted you to take it for that. Just for that. In blood exchanges it is the third one which creates an irreversible bond. The effects of you taking my blood won't be any different this time from the last one."

"Okay..." I tried not to think about one of the effects of our last exchange, my ability to read his thoughts. I was suddenly overcome with exhaustion and I yawned again. "I'm sorry Eric but I can't keep my eyes open..."

"Sleep," he urged. "It's been a long day."

"Will you stay?" I asked, tentatively.

"Yes," he smiled. "I will stay until just before dawn."

I awoke the next morning, my bed was empty but I could smell Eric on me and on my sheets. I stretched out my body feeling a pleasant ache and my hand brushed over a note on the pillow.

_Lover,_

_You are exquisite._

_E_

I smiled at his use of the term "lover", it was a little cheesy but it didn't stop a warm feeling spreading down to my toes.

After a few minutes, I eased myself out of bed and got straight into the shower. I had work today but I still had a couple of hours to chat things through with Gran. I felt myself blush as I recalled last night's events. God, what must Gran be thinking of me...?

Gran was in the kitchen folding washing as I came in. I went straight to her and gave her a hug. She smiled at me and I motioned for her to sit as I fixed us both a cup of coffee. Gran confirmed she was feeling much better after her sleep and thankfully she looked better too. When she asked me the same question, I felt myself turn purple and mumbled that I was fine.

I sat down at the table and took a deep breath. "So, Gran, we need to talk about last night and some other things. I need you to just hear me out for a minute otherwise I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get all of this out. Okay?"

Gran nodded.

So I began to explain about the existence of vampires and other supernaturals, most of which I still knew nothing about. Her thoughts flashed to Bill and I knew she had already put two and two together about him – not that surprising given his drinking her blood and staking himself in front of her – but it was still a shock for her to have it confirmed. Her eyes filled with tears as I informed her about the years Bill had us under his glamour and how he used us for blood. I knew from her thoughts that she felt as used and betrayed as I had and I could feel my anger for Bill resurfacing.

I recounted to her what Eric had told me about synthetic blood and the vampires' plan to go public. I told her all I knew about vampires in the hope that she could protect herself a little better in future.

Finally, I steeled myself and told her about my telepathy. She cried and hugged me to her, as I explained what it had become like for me to be amongst people and the peace I felt amongst vampires. She didn't recoil from me as I expected she might, knowing I was able to get into her mind. Her thoughts were heavy with sorrow but full of love and sympathy.

We both held each other for a while until she withdrew from the embrace and grabbed my hands in her lap, looking at me intently. "Sookie, you asked me to listen and I have but I need to say something too. This is a lot to deal with, especially after all that has happened to us over the last few days, but we will help each other through. You know I love you very much and we will find a way to make your new abilities easier on you." She paused, in the way I knew meant she was considering her words very carefully. I tried not to listen in but it was hard. "What concerns me more is the way you have been sucked into this world and the implications that has for your safety, for all our safety. Mine, Jason too.."

Her thoughts flashed momentarily to a young man, not a vampire but somehow seemingly other-worldly, and it occurred to me that the existence of the supernatural might not be as much of a shock to this old lady as I had first imagined. I didn't ask; I needed to work on blocking out people's minds and Gran deserved her privacy.

"Bill showed last night how easy it could be to use the people you love to get to you. The further you get involved with Mr Northman, the more you get embroiled in that world. And it's a dangerous one." She sighed. "And that's not even taking into account the fact that you've already wasted a number of years on a man who would never grow old with you, never be able to give you children... Sookie, I'm grateful for what Mr Northman has done for you, what he did for me last night..." She smiled wryly, "and he sure is a handsome man... But you are playing a high risk game. And I'm not sure that you're meant to be part of that world." She paused for a minute and then smiled as if deciding on something. "You're a smart girl, darlin', and it's not for me to say how you should live your life. I know you will choose the path that is right for you."

I left for work with a heavy heart. I had started the day so elated after my night with Eric but I knew, really I had always known, that Gran had a point. Less than a week ago I had been happily married to Bill in ignorant bliss. Now Bill was dead (well, even more dead), I was a telepath and I was blood-bonded to a vampire that I hardly knew. I had rushed into this and I hadn't thought it through.

I was so attracted to Eric it overwhelmed me, and my anger at Bill had only served to fuel that attraction, but what future did I have with the man? Who even knew how you began to have a relationship with someone like him? I wasn't one for casual sex and I doubted if he was the monogamous type. The truth is that I just didn't know. I thought I could trust him but in reality I'd hopped into bed with a man I knew almost nothing about. And in my grandmother's house, no less.

Gran was right too about his world being a dangerous one. I hadn't stopped fearing for my life or the lives of those closest to me since I discovered Bill feeding. Eric was high up in the vampire political structure and I knew, despite last night, he considered me to be an asset because of my telepathy. Hadn't he told me himself that he was a businessman first? The Queen wanted to use me at her whim. I was in danger of being bent to the will of stronger forces and the more people who knew about my abilities, the more my loved ones and I were at risk. Getting involved with Eric had clouded my judgement but I knew I was in deep and it was scary.

I managed to get through my shift without resorting to painkillers although it was still a strain. Thankfully, Merlotte's was fairly quiet today and I was practising putting up a wall between my mind and the thoughts of others. It took a lot of energy to do it, I was exhausted by hometime and my head was aching and fuzzy like I'd spent the day reading without much light.

Sam wasn't in today and I noted from the calendar in his office that it was the night before the full moon. I really did need to talk to him about that. I had phoned Alcide during my break to check if he was healing alright but he had seemed antsy and distracted at the other end of the phone, so the call had been brief. Maybe that's why Sam wasn't going to be in for a couple of days - it was his time of the month too.

By the time I left work, it was dark. My stomach clenched as I saw that Eric was waiting for me, leaning up against my car. He was casual today, in black jeans and a leather jacket. He looked good enough to eat.

"Lover, what have you been up to today? Your thoughts have been awash with confusion since I awoke." He smiled smugly. "Although now that I see you they seem to have become rather more... focused."

I blushed, berating myself for letting him get under my skin so quickly. After my talk with Gran and my ruminations today, I felt sure that I would have to stop seeing Eric, give myself time to grieve, time to consider my options. Now that I saw him, I knew that it would not be that easy. I felt so much desire for him and it irritated me that he could tell.

"Look Eric, I've had a very long day at work, after not very much sleep. I really just need to get home. Can we pick the smug banter up another day?" It sounded prickly even to me.

He quickly adopted his standard poker-face but I was pretty sure that I discerned a brief flash of disappointment in his eyes. It was fleeting but it made me feel better to know it was there and I softened. "Please Eric – I just need a little time," I pleaded quietly. I didn't look him in the eyes. I was a coward.

He sighed and nodded.

"Thank you Eric," I whispered and finally met his gaze. "I should go. I'll call you, okay?"

He grabbed my arm gently. "I'm afraid that's not all. I did want to see you tonight but I am actually here on official business."

I tried to bury the disappointment I felt that Eric wasn't here just for me. I attempted to concentrate on what was coming.

"The Queen called me tonight. Due to... unforeseen circumstances, the timetable has moved up."

"Timetable?" I questioned. I thought I knew what he meant but I needed it confirmed out loud.

"The day after tomorrow," he said firmly as if convincing himself that it was a good idea, as well as me. I looked at him with wide eyes. "The announcement will be the day after tomorrow... In 48 hours the entire world will know of the existence of vampires."

**A/N: A few of you have requested an Eric POV. It wasn't really part of my plan but actually I think it will fit in well here so I'm working on doing the next chapter from his viewpoint. **

**Your reviews make me type faster, so you know what to do...**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Once again, thank you all so much for your reviews. I have to say I'm quite surprised by some of them – I was expecting some criticism for Sookie rushing into bed with Eric but actually most of you want her to get over her doubts, ignore Gran and just get on with it!**

**So, as promised, here's a look at the story so far from Eric's POV. It's a HUGE chapter, so enjoy.**

**Charlaine Harris own the rights to these characters.**

I arrived at the bar an hour after dark to find Pam waiting in my office with two young women. They were probably both in their early twenties, very attractive, although a little on the skinny side for my taste. Both girls had long dark hair, dark eyes and very little clothing. Twins maybe? Definitely sisters. They were also glamoured to within an inch of their lives.

When it comes to fixing us a meal for the night, Pam certainly does it in style.

Pam whispered in the ear of one of the twins and the girl slinked towards me. She looked me in the eyes, coy smile on her face, and began to unbutton her shirt. I did like a girl who maintained eye contact. I was going to have fun with this one.

She dropped her shirt to the floor and quickly shed her red lace bra. She advanced towards me as I leaned up against my desk, now only in her short denim skirt and heels. I glanced over at Pam who was already enjoying a taste of her sister. I smiled, baring my fangs. She was startled for a second but her surprise didn't break through her lust, or the glamour.

I took her chin in my hand, tipping her head to the side to expose her elegant neck. I could smell her arousal tinged with nerves, it made my cock swell as I ran my tongue along her throat.

Just then my phone vibrated in my pocket. Fuck. This had better be important. I growled when I saw the name.

Compton.

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I flew to the address Compton gave me. He'd been stupid enough to get caught feeding by his little human wife and then totally lost control of the situation. Now instead of feeding and fucking, I was in Nowheresville, LA to clear up his mess, glamour his wife and take any other necessary measures. He was so fucking useless, it actually pained me.

It was an old farmhouse, a little shabby but it held a certain charm. I could tell the person that owned the house didn't have much money but still took the time to tend the flower beds and sweep down the porch each day. I was glad I was wearing a suit today, it might help me gain entrance to the house.

I approached the front door, smoothed down my hair and suit and knocked. "Mrs Compton. Please let me in. I'm an associate of your husband's. My name is Eric Northman."

Silence, but I could hear a human heartbeat drumming loudly on the other side of the door. If I focussed I could also detect the faintest whiff of fear.

"Mrs Compton" I tried again. "Please open the door. I just want to talk to you."

"Please go away," she was trying to keep her voice down, presumably so as not to alert the grandmother Compton had informed me about. "I have no desire to talk to anyone who is associated with my husband."

I tried again, keeping my voice as even and amicable as I could. "I know it is late but I really must speak to you tonight."

"Leave me alone and tell Bill to leave me alone too." She paused and then her next words, almost at a whisper, took me by surprise. "I know what you are."

I smiled to myself. This was intriguing. Time to modify my approach. "Ahh. Well that changes everything, does it not? If you truly know what I am then you will know that I can't enter your house without an invitation, so you will be protected with me on the porch and you in the house." I started to appeal to her with logic. "You will also know that I could have broken that door down the second I arrived." I finished with a hint of menace. That worked too.

After a second to consider her options, she opened the door. I could tell she had been crying, her eyes were tinged with red, and she seemed to be in some kind of waitress uniform, but neither detracted from the overall package. She was stunning. She had beautiful blonde hair tied back in a high pony tail and the most gorgeous big blue eyes framed with long dark lashes. I took in her equally amazing body, shapely tanned legs in tiny black shorts, petite waist and luscious breasts straining against her fitted t-shirt. She was biting her lower lip as she, too, looked me over and it instantly made my cock twitch.

Compton immediately went up a notch in my estimation.

I heard her pulse quicken as I gave her my best megawatt smile and introduced myself again. She told me to call her 'Sookie' and made a snide remark about no longer using Compton's surname. I liked her already. Normally, in a situation like this, I would scare a human into submission but something about her made me consider a softer approach.

"I know you must have many questions. Maybe we should start by you telling me exactly what your interpretation of this evening's events are and we can go from there?"

She was a bit curt to start with but I coaxed her into telling me her story. She'd managed to figure out how to rescind Bill's invitation and I found myself opening up to her, telling her about how it all worked. I needed to get back on topic. "What interests me more is you say that he attempted to get into your mind..."

"We? So you and Bill are... vampires," she asked tentatively, still biting that lip.

I wanted to reach over the threshhold and pull it free with my teeth but I replied with a simple "Yes".

"And the getting in your mind thing, that's something you can all do?" She had been avoiding eye contact all this while, she was catching on fast.

"Yes, glamouring is the main way that we are able to keep our existence secret. Of course some of us are better than others. Bill's skills are obviously lacking in this area..."

I could practically hear her mind processing the implications. "So... you're here to clear up Bill's mess..."

"Yes." I was almost enjoying myself. This girl was a breath of fresh air. Technically, she was Compton's human and therefore I could look but not touch but there were always ways of getting around that. For now, however, I had a job to do and it was time to get on with it. I called to her with my mind and breathed her name: "Sookie".

She looked right at me, eyes wide, as I began to pull at her mind, enthralling her consciousness. I could feel my mind caress hers, as if pulling her to me. Then suddenly something snapped and she broke the connection.

I was blown away. I'd been glamouring people for centuries, longer even, and this girl was the first person I'd come across who wasn't susceptible to my power. Who the hell was she? What the hell was she?

She dropped her eyes. Her heart beat increased again. I could tell she had begun to consider the consequences of withstanding my glamour.

"And if you can't...?" she whispered.

I wasn't going to say it out loud. She knew, I knew. It was a shame, she really had intrigued me. But I was a vampire; she couldn't be allowed to know our secret. It was too dangerous.

I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding as I made to get up. There was something though that didn't add up with her story and it had been niggling at the back of my mind. "One thing I do not quite get Sookie?" Her heartbeat was so erratic and I could smell her fear. Her scent was delicious; I'd so much rather be fucking her than killing her. "You say that you attacked Bill with a rake on discovering the scene. Was the rake in the kitchen? If not, how did you know to bring a weapon with you into your grandmother's house."

She hesitated, as if considering her response. "I, I heard her being attacked."

I couldn't fucking believe it. "She was screaming?" Compton was a fucking amateur.

"Um, no." I looked deep into her eyes. What was she hiding?

"She was screaming, but it was in her mind…. I seem to be able to, what I mean is, I think I can read minds."

Jackpot.

I couldn't take my eyes off her – had she known what I was thinking all this time? "Can you read my mind?" I demanded.

"No. Not yours, or Bill's, it's like a big blank, where the thoughts should be. That's how I knew you were a vampire when you knocked on the door. It's only something that I've recently learnt to do but no, not you."

She looked me in the eye as she spoke. I thought I believed her but clearly I couldn't leave this to chance. My thoughts ran to what I would do to her if she were lying. I was particularly creative, considering some of the more obscure and terrible punishments I had seen and heard of over the years. She didn't flinch, her pulse remained steady.

She was telling the truth.

"Are you going to kill me now?" she whispered.

No, I wasn't going to kill her now and I was glad for it. "Sookie, Sookie, Sookie. What am I going to do with you?" I asked playfully. "You have managed to negotiate your position from Bill Compton's collateral damage to a sought-after supernatural commodity in the space of a two-minute conversation. I'm starting to understand what Compton saw in you - aside from the obvious, of course."

It was true, she had this perfect mix of wide-eyed innocence and Southern steel. She blushed at my compliment and it made my dick twitch again. What was happening to me this evening? Probably a side effect of Compton's cock-block earlier tonight.

I was in the middle of assuring her that I wouldn't hurt her, when I heard footsteps in the distance. Speak of the devil. I told him to stay away until he had had confirmation from me that the situation was under control. His insubordination was both irritating and unacceptable. I noticed Sookie taking a step back into the house when she realised he was approaching and for some reason that made me smile.

Compton approached the porch and started pleading with his wife to listen to him, to take him back. It was pathetic but fascinating at the same time – he thought he really loved her. Sookie was having none of it however and I couldn't keep the smug grin off my face. She really was a fiery one.

His whining falling on deaf ears, Compton was stupid enough to make a rush for her. What did he think that would achieve other than further aggravating Sookie? He couldn't even enter the house. I grabbed him around the neck and told him to calm down. More a show for Sookie than because I thought he was capable of actually hurting anyone while she was safely inside.

Compton was yelling at Sookie that she couldn't trust me. He was right of course but she just rolled her eyes at him. His relentless disobedience was really starting to piss me off, so I put pressure on his collar bone until I heard a satisfying snap. Compton actually yelped.

"Eric," she looked deep into my eyes. Had I pushed things too far? "I think we have more to discuss but I'd prefer to do it without an audience." Not too far at all – I smelt victory. I gave Compton a triumphant push off the porch onto the dirty ground.

"I suggest you leave the lady and I alone to talk, Bill," I was enjoying this immensely, "or face the consequences…"

Bill hauled himself off the floor, his injuries already healing and, muttering under his breath, headed away from the house. I would deal with him later.

Sookie was tidying up her face, wiping away tears. "I'm so exhausted, I don't think I can do much more of this now," she said. "But I need to know why he turned, why he attacked Gran the way he did. I can't even think about what might have happened if I had not come home…"

I considered this for a second. What to say? Did I finesse the situation to calm her down or tell her the truth and attempt to gain her trust? The second option was probably better from what I had seen – she didn't seem disgusted that Bill was a vampire, more that he had deceived her and used her. If I was going to have her confidence, I was going to have to convince her that I was not like that. I preferred candour anyway. Not that I wasn't an excellent liar when the situation called for it.

"I think it was probably less the case that you came home to witness a random attack and more that you interrupted Bill's usual feeding..." She looked horrified but to her credit, she held it together. "It is very rare for vampires to settle into long-term relationships with humans but if you look at it purely from a supply and demand point of view, it is makes a lot of sense."

She sat down on the floor as the colour began to drain from her face. "So what you mean is that, that Gran has effectively been Bill's Meals on Wheels for as long as he's been in Bon Temps, been with me."

She didn't quite get it. I felt a momentary flash of pity for her. That was odd – pity was not an emotion I experienced very often, if at all. I remained silent, allowing her time to process.

"Not just Gran," she whispered. I nodded.

"For us, sex and feeding are often intrinsically linked. But for a vampire as young as Bill, he would also need other… sources of sustenance… to maintain his hunger. I would imagine there may be others in the community in addition to your Gran that he also fed from. It is what I would do if I were as young as he." Okay, there was candour and there was candour. I was being more honest than I had intended.

"But surely someone would remember? I have no bite marks like Gran? How is it possible?"

"Bill would be able to glamour you all into forgetting the less savoury aspects of his interactions with you. You say that you have only recently developed your telepathy – it would seem that your resistance to glamour has evolved alongside that ability and you have been living in ignorant bliss for the past few years." Even as I said it I had to wonder if this meant that Compton really didn't know what his little Southern Belle was capable of? I held back a laugh.

I continued. "As for the bite marks, they can be healed." That reminded me, we needed to fix her grandmother's puncture wound. "Do you have any gauze?"

She seemed to find that amusing. I had no idea why, so I just looked at her until she went and found what I asked for. She tossed it at me across the open doorway. So she hadn't quite let down her guard yet.

She stood watching me, fascinated, as I bit my finger and rubbed it on the gauze. She definitely wasn't repulsed; she was actually enthralled and, if her heartbeat was anything to go by, maybe a little turned on. That was interesting. I was beginning to think that everything about this girl was.

I told her to wipe the gauze on her grandmother's marks and checked that Compton had adequately glamoured the old lady at least.

She sighed, confirming that to be the case.

My business there was done for now but I would need to see her again. I suggested she come to the bar the next night.

She seemed hesitant, as if she were considering her safety, weighing up the pros and cons.

"Here are the details," I persisted. I went to hand her my card and felt an overwhelming urge to touch her. So I reached for her arm as it briefly crossed the doorway and pulled her gently onto the porch. She gasped as I swooped her back and kissed her deeply.

After her initial surprise, she allowed my tongue entrance into her mouth with a little moan. She tasted amazing, fresh but with a slight tinge of alcohol, and her smell was out of this world, especially now that she was becoming aroused. God only knows what her blood would taste like - my dick hardened at the thought.

I didn't want to scare her off so I gently stopped the kiss, but needing one last taste, I ran my tongue along her lower lip.

"Mmmm…Delicious," I smiled. She was.

Sookie had closed her eyes, I think the kiss had made her a little dizzy. Good to know. I flew off into the night before she opened them again. It doesn't do any harm to keep them wanting more.

As I took to the sky, I realised that I'd had more fun tonight than in recent memory and I was already looking forward to seeing her again.

0--0--0--0--0--0

I got to the club fairly early the next night. Pam had arranged for a young blonde to be deposited in my office. I fed, I was really thirsty, but I couldn't be bothered to fuck her or do very much of anything. I had a much more beguiling blonde on her way to me and this girl seemed like a poor substitute. I told Pam no blondes for a while. She looked at me suspiciously, she knew blondes were my favourite, but wisely kept quiet.

I tried to do some work but I was distracted. Pam and I were investing in a new bar "Fangtasia" and I needed to approve some of the projections. The name was Pam's idea (she did love a pun) but the concept was all mine. I knew a good business opportunity when I saw it. The minute we revealed ourselves to the world, there would be a vast untapped market of people desperate to know more about our kind, to be among us. And they'd pay good money to drink in a vamp bar, just so they could get a look at us. I was realistic; our big reveal wasn't going to be smooth sailing, there were going to be a lot of people who were horrified by our very existence. But for every horrified human, there'd be one who'd be fascinated. Sookie herself had proved that last night.

I gave up any attempt to do something productive and went out to the main bar and sat in my booth. She arrived just after nine. Pam led her in, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Sookie's heart was beating rapidly and she was looking around a little nervously. Pam could have that effect on people.

Sookie looked spectacular. Her hair was down tonight and in soft waves around her face and she was wearing a figure-hugging red dress that showed off all her curves. She had high black pumps on, that made her legs look amazing and I briefly thought about fucking her over my desk, wearing only those shoes. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a small gold crucifix and grinned in response. She had a lot to learn but she certainly had spirit.

She blushed at my looking her over and my smile couldn't help but deepen.

Once she was seated and Pam went off to get her a drink, we began chatting about how she was feeling after last night's events. She was very candid and I found myself instantly enjoying her company again. Pam passed by, bringing Sookie her gin and tonic, and winked at me. Sookie didn't see but I scowled at my child nonetheless. She was enjoying this far too much.

I had Sookie laughing now and it was captivating. We got onto the subject of the vampire power structure and she even asked me if I was Compton's 'boss'. That had me very amused.

"Yesterday, you alluded to the fact that you were older than Bill…" She was too polite to ask outright but I was correct, she was fascinated.

"Yes, Bill is fairly young for a vampire. I believe he was turned some time during the American Civil War."

"That explains why he used to bore me death with all those battle facts. I was always so grateful when Gran would take him off my hands for a while!" He was clearly as interesting to humans as he was to other vampires. How had a creature such as her ended up with such an inadequate specimen?

She took a sip of her drink and getting some courage together asked, "So how old are you?" Had her voice suddenly got sexier?

"I am not sure exactly but over a thousand years old. In my human life I lived in what is now modern-day Sweden."

"You were a Viking?" she asked incredulously. I had her impressed. Good.

"Yes, " I replied and wiggled my eyebrows at her. If she was going to inject some sex into the conversation, so was I.

Just then Pam sped over to me, whispering in my ear that Andre was here with Compton. Shit. If Andre was here, that was not good. I was the strongest and oldest sheriff in Lousiana but the Queen was notoriously fickle and I never wanted to be on her bad side. Andre was just merciless. You were fucked whatever side of his you were on. Damn Compton, I was going to drown that bastard in molten silver nitrate.

As they approached, I ushered Sookie out of our booth, whispering in her ear to keep quiet and trust me. She gave me an imperceptible nod.

Andre addressed me and then gave Sookie an appraising look. I put my game face on and made the introductions: "Sookie Stackhouse, may I present Andre. Consort to the vampire Queen of Louisiana."

"Northman," Andre's voice was especially chilled, "the Queen has been informed about Compton's human and the events of last night. She is most displeased. She requests that you both accompany me to court to discuss the matter further."

"Of course," I replied dispassionately. Inside I was livid. "It is important that her majesty meet Ms Stackhouse." Compton snarled at that, I was glad.

"Let us not keep her waiting."

I was grateful for the car journey and flight to New Orleans. It gave me time to think through the scenarios. Did Compton know of Sookie's telepathy? If he did, did the Queen know? I thought the answer was 'no' to both questions but I couldn't be sure. How much leverage would her ability get me? I didn't think the Queen would be silly enough to go against me in support of Compton but frankly it surprised me that he had any sway with her whatsoever. He was only an infant in vampire terms. Plus he was male, not to mention dull, certainly not the Queen's usual type.

I realised I wanted Sookie for myself; certainly for her skills but I was finding her personally more intriguing by the second. I felt a strange desire to protect her from what lay ahead. I gave myself an internal reprimand; I had survived for as long as I had because I did not put my life or my area on the line for anyone. I needed to exert more control over this situation.

I sat next to Sookie on the plane to irritate Compton. She was obviously nervous of flying, so I put my hand on her knee to calm her and got a squeeze from her hand in response. I found myself enjoying the warmth of her touch, her hand was delicate and soft.

When we finally got to the palace, Andre led us to the gilt drawing room. I felt relieved. This was a good sign. If Sophie-Anne planned to kill us, she would have had us taken somewhere with less antiques. Surprisingly, they left us alone. Now I was even more convinced that no one knew about Sookie's abilities. This could work.

"Eric," Sookie whispered, "what the hell is going on?"

I needed to act fast. "Sookie, we do not have much time, so I need you to listen. As you know, on discovering that you are aware of our existence and yet can not be glamoured, protocol dictates that last night I should have taken the requisite… next steps. In order to convince the Queen that I was correct in not taking those steps, I will need to tell her about your telepathy. She is very astute. She will not want to dispose of something so valuable, especially at the current time."

"Ok. And then she'll just let us go home?" Her voice was doubtful. She was right to be.

Her telepathy would save her life but it wouldn't give either of us the end result we desired. I told her the truth, most likely Sophie-Anne would want to turn her or bond her to someone at court.

She began to panic. Good. That meant she was more likely to see me as the preferred alternative. "The only way I can see of preventing this is if you and I share a blood bond. Then she may agree to let you leave with me, let you go back to your life, although it is likely that she will still call on you when she needs your service."

At her request, I explained to her what was involved in a blood bond. I told her the truth; I knew she valued that and it didn't cost me in this situation. She didn't really have another option. I mentioned that it would also make her 'mine'. She didn't press the issue but I could tell she wasn't happy about that part. She really was a fascinating contradiction. The blood exchange seemed to be acceptable but one possessive pronoun and she was fuming.

"It won't turn me into a vampire?" she asked nervously.

"No, I'd have to take a lot more of your blood for that to happen."

"And if we didn't bond or tell the Queen of my new ability?"

It wasn't in my interests to sugarcoat it: "As I said, protocol dictates that you should be killed. She may therefore order your death or, if my suspicions are correct, and Compton has come running to the Queen begging her to intervene in his marital problems, she may allow him to turn you instead." I looked into her eyes and drove my point home: "As your maker, he would have complete control over you. You really would be 'his' in every sense of the word, if that were what he wanted. I could not do anything to intercede."

"Why would you do this for me?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

I realised I wasn't entirely sure but I gave her as truthful an answer as I could manage. "You are beautiful and you intrigue me Sookie, that cannot be denied, but I am primarily a pragmatist and a businessman. I, too, can see the inherent value of having a telepath in my retinue - working for me, loyal to me… And after tonight's events, I also have a strong desire to see Bill Compton meet the sun."

"And exchanging blood with his wife would be the extra cherry on top?" She was catching on.

"Yes," I admitted. "I'm also curious to see if you taste as good as you smell." More than curious. I'd hardly been able to think of anything else since I met her but I wasn't going to reveal that.

"Right, so how do we do this blood thing?" she asked shyly.

I felt triumphant but tried not to show it, opting instead to take up a more appropriate position on the chaise longue. I could smell her fear and hear the anxiety in her heart rate, so I began to stroke her arms in attempt to calm her. Her skin was like hot silk. I began to kiss up and down her neck, inhaling her delicious aroma, and smoothed my hand over her breast. She was becoming aroused and I felt my dick harden against her back. She began to grind against me and I knew she was as into this as I was.

"Eric, now," she breathed sexily and offered me her neck. I didn't hesitate and immediately sunk my fangs into her shoulder. Oh my God, she was mouth-watering. I had never tasted human blood so exquisite. I couldn't help but groan with desire.

With reluctance, I pulled myself away and I bit into my own wrist, urging her to drink. She only hesitated for a second and then sucked with absolute fervour. That was it. I was undone. The feeling of my blood entering her body, her hot little mouth on me, the thought of her mouth on other places. I came violently, hugging her to me.

Holy shit that was intense. I couldn't help but smile smugly as she nudged herself forward. "God Sookie," my voice was languid, other-worldly, "you are delectable."

"Apparently so," she had a wicked smile on her face as she glanced down at my jeans.

She had some of my blood smeared at the corner of her mouth. I had never seen her look so captivating. I softly wiped the blood with my thumb and popped my thumb in my mouth savouring the taste of us mingled together.

Just then I heard them approach.

Sophie-Anne was her usual self, all coquettish giggles, with a not-so-subtle undertone of menace. I quickly explained my actions and revealed Sookie's ability, assuring her that Sookie could not read vampire minds. Neither she nor Bill had known. My calculated gamble had paid off nicely. Bill had lost control of the situation and now looked like a fool in front of the Queen. Perfect.

Sophie-Anne had one of the 'Berts bring in a human concubine to test Sookie and she, of course, passed with flying colours. I was exultant as the Queen managed to praise me and chide Compton in one artfully crafted sentence.

Sophie-Anne turned to Sookie. "Well I suppose we shall find a place for you at the palace. Your particular skills will come in incredibly useful over the next few months – there are changes on the horizon and the balance between human and vampire is due to shift." This turn of events seemed to please Bill but I was wiling to wager that I could wipe the smile off his face.

I could sense Sookie's angst next to me as I interjected. "If I may, your majesty, Sookie has agreed to make her skills available to us on request. As I have already exchanged blood with her, I think it would be happier for all involved if she were allowed to return to her home… under my supervision of course."

"My, my, Eric, you are just full of surprises tonight," Sophie-Anne was amused. "A blood bond – that was fast work." I'm pretty sure she'd noticed the stain on my jeans, so she was probably well aware just how fast it really was. I just agreed with her not giving anything away.

"I take it you have only exchanged blood once so far?" I confirmed that it was the case. Give me time.

Sookie interrupted us and stated her case. She surprised me; it wasn't a tearful plea but an impassioned case, stating why her skills would be of better use to the Queen if she were not forced. Sophie-Anne had tortured enough people over the centuries to know that information obtained under duress was unreliable. It was a smart argument.

Sophie-Anne seemed to consider the issue and finally spoke. "Fine. You shall return to Bon Temps and come when I call you." She gave me instructions to "augment" the blood bond, as if I hadn't been planning to in any case, and I was ready to leave. Sookie, however, was not done. Clearly my instruction to keep quiet had in her mind expired. I'd like to think she was a little high from ingesting my blood but I had a sneaking suspicion she was always like this. I frowned; it didn't annoy me as much as it should have.

"Your majesty, sorry to bother you further, but there is one more issue that I would like to discuss with you," she asked nervously. "I want out of my marriage to Bill, if it even is a legal marriage. I never would have married him if I had known that he was using me and my loved ones to feed upon. Everything I felt was predicated on his glamour. Now that I know the truth, the thought of being around him makes my skin crawl. I-I can't bear to think of him as my husband, living in the house across from mine, seeing him every day..." She was beginning to get emotional and Bill was hardly any better shouting out that he loved her.

Somewhat surprisingly, Sophie-Anne seemed to have sympathy for Sookie's plea. She closed her eyes, as if in contemplation but I knew she was communicating with Andre, telepathically. "You and I both know something about being tethered to a man we despise, do we not?" I presumed she was referring to her maker. Most of us, especially the older ones, knew a little something about that. Pam didn't know how lucky she was. "You do realise, however, that your ability will ruin you for human men? Try conducting any kind of relationship with a man when you can read his thoughts. You may find yourself yearning for your deceitful husband when loneliness kicks in," she laughed. "Although, maybe you plan simply on trading one vampire for another?" She looked at us both, she'd definitely noticed the jeans. Compton growled, so had he. I smiled smugly in response.

"Fine," she said finally. "Your marriage to Bill will be dissolved, I shall have my people draw up the papers. Bill, you have one week to vacate your house in Bon Temps…"

Bill had the stupidity to shout at the Queen and that was when the real Sophie-Anne emerged, as if she had ripped off a mask. Her entourage all turned to face him menacingly. The loyalty she commanded still managed to impress me and I knew that with one incline of her head, Bill Compton would be ripped to pieces.

The Queen put Compton in his place and reiterated her decree. Sookie would be freed from her marriage, freed from Bill. She'd even suggested he leave my area. Finally, she gave us leave to get out of there. I grabbed Sookie's hand and didn't look back.

I tried to relax my mind on the flight home as Sookie slept beside me but hundreds of emotions flitted through me as I watched her sleep. We had survived the night. I found myself relieved, not only that I had made it through unscathed, but that Sookie was happy, unharmed, and more closely bound to me than before.

Pam had left our cars at the airfield. I walked Sookie to hers and couldn't stop thinking about our blood exchange earlier on. This girl was really getting to me. I needed to snap out of it. Feelings made you weak. Distractions got you killed.

Heat triumphed over logic however as she went to get into her car. In an instant I had her slammed up against the car door, kissing her passionately, letting her know she was mine. She responded with fervour, rubbing herself against me. I wanted more contact so I hitched up her legs and began to massage her nub through her underwear. Her panties were soaked and it made me hard again. I couldn't get enough of this woman. She began to climax and I knew this was right. This woman was such a rush. I'd outmanoeuvred Bill, Andre and Sophie-Anne; they wanted her for their own but I was victorious.

She is mine.

0--0--0--0--0--0

As I set her back down I felt a rush of panic from her through the blood bond. "Sookie, what's wrong?" I asked anxiously.

"Um, nothing," she stuttered. "That was… amazing… it's just that I suddenly realised we were in a public place and began to panic that someone might see us."

That made me laugh. She really was so innocent in many ways. I had never met anyone quite like her. "You really are delightful." Even as I said it, I found myself marvelling at the effect this girl had had on me in such a short space of time.

She said that she had to go but there was something off about the way she was acting and I could feel something through the bond that I couldn't quite identify. I looked in her eyes, as if searching for the answer.

And then I felt it. Very subtle, but it was there; like hundreds of tiny spiders scuttling over the corners of my mind. I frowned. Her face was blank but I knew. She was trying to get into my mind.

I felt relief flood through the bond and knew she couldn't do it. I suppose I couldn't blame her for checking but I felt disappointed in her somehow for trying. I shrugged it off, she was just being cautious perhaps. I would have done the same.

I changed tack. "I am supposed to be at the bar tonight. It is Pam's night off. Would you consider coming to Shreveport again?" I smiled. Our meetings had been fairly dramatic so far. I was hoping we could take it down a notch. "I will try and make sure we are not interrupted this time."

She nodded, clearly exhausted. We said our good nights and then she drove off into the darkness.

I phoned Pam from the car.

"Master?" she sounded relieved.

"Pamela," I said amusedly. "You sound like you've been concerned? How sweet."

She humphed. "I knew you were unharmed of course, I could feel it. But that Andre is a tricky bastard. I am glad that you have returned safe." It was her turn to be amused. "I also felt a rush of sexual exhilaration through the bond, so I know that you managed to find time for some... entertainment on your trip..."

"Yes, everything went quite well," I replied matter-of-factly. "Compton managed to piss off Sophie-Anne, although he has unfortunately yet to meet his final death, and Sookie and I have exchanged blood. Not bad for an evening's _entertainment_."

"A blood exchange?" she seemed quite surprised but recovered quickly. "Well I expect she is quite delicious. Compton obviously thinks so. Maybe she'll let me have a little taste too one of these days..." I knew she was trying to bait me so I ignored her. I could sense her smiling at the other end of the phone. Pam smiling was quite an unnerving sight, even for me.

"Goodnight Pam," I replied in a clipped tone.

"Sleep well Master," she cooed at the other end and hung up.

I frowned. Pam was finding the Sookie situation far too entertaining for my liking. And she was only likely to get worse.

I made the short journey to my house in less than ten minutes. It wasn't long till dawn, so I left a note of instructions for my day man to set up a meeting with my accountants and to send Sookie flowers tomorrow. I went to rest without taking a shower, Sookie's scent still on me and the taste of her blood still lingering in my mouth.

0--0--0--0--0--0--0

The next night I was antsy again, it was nearly midnight and she wasn't here yet. I'd even growled at one of my accountants in our meeting and had to glamour him into forgetting my outburst. Pam kept smiling at me smugly; she really was enjoying herself. Thank God she had the night off tonight and went home after the meeting, I might have taken a stake to her.

She had arranged for a girl to be brought to my office. Dark caramel skin and big hazel eyes. I had a sip and sent her away. She tasted like shit in comparison to Sookie. What was the point? I nursed one of those awful bottled bloods instead. It tasted worse but I somehow felt better.

I left word with Clancy that Sookie was to be brought to my office and tried to do some work to distract myself until she arrived. Just after midnight I felt her approaching and immediately relaxed. There was a knock on the other side of my door and I told her to come in.

She looked amazing. Like a 1940s screen siren and I felt myself harden instantly as the thought of fucking her in my office crept back into my mind.

"Sookie… you look enchanting as usual," I didn't bother to keep the heat out of my voice as she smiled at me coyly, her face flushing. She could feel it too. I smiled.

She took a second to take in her surroundings and glanced at the mess on my desk. I saw her eyes go to the synthetic blood and smirked at her. I could tell she was trying very hard not to be horrified.

"Samples. Don't worry, it's synthetic," I assured her.

"Synthetic blood? I didn't know they could do that yet?" She seemed fascinated again.

"It's a recent invention. Some Japanese pharmaceutical company came up with it for human transfusions but obviously it has its benefits for vampires too. It tastes like shit but it does the job." I could feel myself grimace as I recalled my foray into synthetic blood earlier this evening. "Really, it's the most significant development in vampire history since the invention of the coffin." I made her smile.

I could tell that she was going through the implications for the world if vampires could live on synthetic blood. She really did have a keen mind. She listened intently as I began to tell her about the plan to reveal our existence. It was due to take place in a few weeks and had been meticulously organised by the powers that be over the course of a couple of years. I had my doubts; the possible backlash for one, the need to act more mainstream going forward for another, and the ability of certain vampires in my acquaintance to maintain that act... But all-in-all I was in favour of the plan. It was time. The humans would find out sooner or later and it was preferable to reveal our existence on our own terms, especially given the advances in human technology. There were plenty of things that could kill vampires other than stakes. More positively, there were lots of business opportunities for the right person, or vampire.

We discussed the benefits of having a telepath around at a time of such great transition and I congratulated myself on my forward thinking. Sookie's mood seemed to rapidly shift to anger.

"And what about the telepath, does she get a say in this?" she spat.

I wasn't quite sure where this wrath was coming from. I assumed she'd be excited to have such a role. She seemed so fascinated by everything, so eager to expand her horizons.

"I don't like feeling that I have no options, no power, Eric. It's no different to being glamoured," she was getting irate now and I was reminded that she was effectively just a child.

"You met the Queen last night, Sookie, do you want to tell her 'no'? And I thought you and I had an understanding..." She really could be quite infuriating.

"And you've been romancing me to help that understanding along…Innocent little Sookie, the great Eric Northman flashes a smile in her direction and she'll do anything he asks?" She was almost shouting now. It was pissing me off.

I snapped: "Sookie, if I wanted to coerce you into doing my bidding, there are far more efficient ways of doing so than romancing you, as you so eloquently put it. And in any case, you are mine now." It was the truth but the minute I said it, I knew it would only inflame the situation. I was acting as irrationally as she was. It wasn't like me at all.

She made to get out of her chair and took a cheap shot, comparing me to Compton. I lost it. "Sookie – sit down! You're acting like a child."

She ignored me, declaring that she was 'nobody's' before striding out of the office and slamming the door shut behind her.

I was staggered. I sat at my desk, head in my hands, trying to figure out how we had gone from flirtatious banter to explosive argument in a matter of minutes. Humans were just so fucking unreasonable and I was starting to suspect that Sookie was more hot-headed than most. I couldn't remember the last time someone had spoken to me like she just did. Part of me wanted to kill her for being so fucking insubordinate, part of me wanted to fuck the conflict right out of her, and another part of me realised I felt slightly exhilarated, annoyed but exhilarated. What was she doing to me?

Moments later my phone rang. Pam. Great. From one vexatious fucking female to another.

I answered the phone. "I am here."

"Master, I sensed a huge wave of anger a few moments ago. Is everything alright at the bar?" She knew full fucking well that everything was fine at the bar.

Two could play this game and I'd been playing much longer than my child. "Actually, I have to leave, you'll need to come in and supervise."

"But it's my night off. I'm in the middle of a manicure..." She did not sound happy. Good.

"Don't make me ask you a second time, Pamela," I warned, voice firm.

"Yes Master, I shall be there shortly," she replied contritely, hanging up the phone.

I'd ruined Pam's night. I felt better already.

I picked up a couple of bottles of blood from my desk and swept through the bar, picking up a bottle of good wine on the way. I took to the sky and made my way towards Bon Temps.

I sat on her porch, waiting, and she arrived about fifteen minutes later.

"I'm sorry I called you a monster," she said shyly as she approached the house.

"You meant it at the time." I couldn't believe her words had actually affected me but I couldn't keep the resentment out of my reply.

"I did but I don't now. I am grateful for all that you've done for me, you should know that, but this is all just so overwhelming Eric. In three nights my life has been turned upside down. You have to make a teeny allowance for me, let me to catch up. Not all of us have super speed, you know?"

She was right and it made me laugh. I couldn't help but tell her how remarkably I thought she was handling things, how impressed I was. It was true.

She blushed and thanked me for the flowers by way of changing subject. I smiled. This was more like it. I lifted myself off the porch swing and made my way towards her. She heard the chink of the bottle and raised an eyebrow at me, sexily. "Is that a bottle in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

Now she was flirting again? This woman had me in a tailspin. It had been such a long time since I'd had any meaningful interaction with a human woman, I had forgotten just how contrary they could be. I wasn't really even sure why I was here. "I thought we could just hang out," I sounded so uncertain. This was ridiculous. "So I brought refreshments…"

She laughed at that and I relaxed. "We can celebrate my upcoming annulment." Okay, this was a new turn of events. "That's right – the Queen is true to her word. In twelve weeks, I'll officially be Bill Compton-free." She hesitated for a second and then continued, "All joking aside though, I think we are going to have to talk about what happened before..."

I suppose she was right but I didn't want to get serious again so quickly. "Not tonight though..." Tonight I wanted to kiss her, taste her and rub myself all over her, not necessarily in that order.

"No, not tonight," she agreed. "You'll have to remember to keep it down, Gran is in bed." She seemed to be on the same page. I looked at her as I approached the threshold to the house. She smiled at me, eyes full of trust. "Eric Northman, please come in."

We had come such a long way in a couple of days and I instantly felt elated.

I knew something was wrong the minute I entered her kitchen. I could smell him. The scent was fresh. I knew immediately that the grandmother wasn't in the house. I couldn't smell a corpse – he'd taken her. Sookie seemed to realise that something was amiss a second later. I could immediately feel her emotions. She was terrified.

"Eric," she whispered through tears, "where's my grandmother?"

With a heavy heart, I confirmed what she already knew to be true. Compton.

Sookie made her way to her grandmother's bedroom but I knew she wasn't there. I followed Compton's trail out of the house, across the cemetery to his house. The trail went cold in his driveway and I discerned that he had taken her somewhere in his car.

I made my way back to the house. Sookie was crying and handed me a note. I felt her anguish through the bond. I would take great pleasure in sending Bill Compton to his final death but the best thing I could do for her now would be to get a hold on the situation and help find her grandmother.

I phoned Pam and arranged for her to meet us at Compton's. I also called Alcide Herveaux and called in the favour he owed me. He didn't seem very happy about the task I had assigned him but my tone made it clear that I would brook no disappointment.

Sookie and I headed over there to search the house but found nothing. When Pam arrived, I took Sookie back to her grandmother's house and tucked her into bed. I explained to her that Pam and I were going to follow up a few leads before going to rest and told her to expect Herveaux. As I kissed her forehead and assured her that everything would be okay, I realised that I didn't know whether that was true. But this girl had gotten under my skin and as she looked at me with hope, silent tears falling onto her pillow, I knew that I very much wanted it to be so.

0--0--0--0--0--0

I woke just before sunset and immediately felt for Sookie through the bond. She was close and I could sense happiness and comfort. She had found her grandmother.

The sun began to set and I began to get out of my travel coffin. Pam began to stir moments after. She was bound to be grumpy, she always was when she awoke and she wouldn't be able to feed immediately, which would further increase her ire.

Suddenly, I felt a flash of panic from Sookie. The bond was flooded with fear and revulsion and I knew Compton had found them.

I wrenched Pam from her coffin. Her brow was knitted in a tense frown but she followed me without argument to the minivan. I could feel that Sookie was not far way and directed Pam as she sped down dark country roads towards an old farmhouse. Sookie was still scared but her emotions were also tinged with frustration. And pity. I could detect pity.

She must have heard the car as it approached because I felt relief flow from her again. She knew I was here. I spotted the wolf sprawled out by the side of the house, and could smell his blood, I directed Pam to go deal with it as I entered the house.

I approached the kitchen stealthily. Sookie and her grandmother had their backs to me and if Bill detected my presence, he didn't show it. I noticed that he was going for a stake and in a split second I realised what he was going to do. Surprisingly Sookie cried out and made as if to stop him. I watched impassively as he plunged the stake into his heart and his body began to pool in a bloody mess on the kitchen floor.

Sookie noticed me then and she looked at me questioningly through her tears. I realised that I hated to see her cry but there was nothing to be done.

I made my way over to her. "Are you both okay?" I asked. She nodded.

Her grandmother was weak but substantially unharmed. I bent down towards her and introduced myself. She steeled herself and greeted me politely. I could see where her granddaughter got her spirit from. After getting her permission, I scooped her up and took her to the minivan where Pam was waiting.

The wolf seemed to be making a recovery. He was shirtless and nursing a head wound. Sookie skipped over to him and embraced him. He seemed to enjoy it a little too much and I found myself having to dampen down a pang of jealousy.

Sookie got into the back seat of minivan with her grandmother. "Eric," she whispered. I looked into the rearview mirror and met her gaze. "Thank you."

I smiled. We were alive and Compton was dead. It was a good day.

0--0--0--0--0--0

We got back to Bon Temps around 11pm. Sookie and I sat in the kitchen; her grandmother had gone to bed.

Surprisingly Sookie asked me not to glamour her grandmother. I could understand why – I knew they both felt particularly violated by what Compton had done to their minds and she reasoned that vampires would be coming out of the woodwork soon anyway, so it wasn't a necessary precaution to keep the vampire secret. I thought it over; the safe, smart option was to glamour her anyway but Sookie looked at me with such feeling, I found I couldn't deny her.

Suddenly, she broke the silence that ensued. "You didn't do anything Eric. When Bill reached for the stake, you could have stopped him but you didn't." I wasn't sure what she was asking, so I stayed silent and waited for her to continue. "I, um, was just wondering about that."

I sighed. I doubted this line of questioning would end well. For all her perceived loathing of Bill, ultimately, Sookie had tried to stop him from taking his own life. It was a very human reaction. She wouldn't understand that Compton needed to die. In my mind, if he died by his own hand, even better; vampire blood was extremely difficult to get out of your clothes and I was wearing one of my favourite t-shirts.

"Bill made his choice Sookie. He made a number of choices to get him to that kitchen with a stake in his hand. He was weak. That's not a good quality in a human but it's intolerable in a vampire. I will not mourn his loss." I could feel her confusion tinged with disappointment as she considered my words in silence. I watched her, sitting there with her eyebrows knitted, trying to think through the nights events. She needed some time alone.

"I should go," I said. "You need to rest..." I gave her a chaste kiss and went to leave but she stopped me, grabbing my hand. Did she want me to stay? I looked at her, unsure, the energy between us was palpable. What did she want from me?

"Please don't go Eric," she whispered. I nodded gently and continued to look into her beautiful eyes. I wanted her to come to me, to initiate things, so I could be sure it was what she really wanted. She kissed me tentatively. I felt her relax and her lust start to course through the bond. I broke the kiss for a second to free her lovely hair. It fell in waves around her shoulders and I told her she was beautiful. She really was.

"So are you," she smiled. We kissed more deeply this time and then she led me to her bedroom.

She began to undress me and I was suddenly cautious. I was bewitched by this woman. I wanted her but I already knew that I would want her more than once. I didn't want her to do this out of shock or grief and then regret it. I needed her to want it as much as me and I was prepared to wait if she wasn't ready yet.

"Sookie...we don't have to do this now..."

"I want to," she replied firmly and seemed to send a jolt of longing through the bond. It just felt right.

The time for being cautious was over and I had her on the bed and half naked in seconds. She had the most beautiful soft full breasts I had ever seen and she writhed around on the bed as I began to taste them, nipping playfully. I was so hard, uncomfortably straining against my jeans. This woman was undoing me. I made to get undressed, slowly, and she was biting her lip in anticipation. When she saw my size, I felt a flash of shock through the bond but it was quickly drowned out by feelings of lust. It made me even harder and I smiled knowingly at her.

Soon we both naked. My dick ached to be inside her but I wanted to taste her first, so I pulled her down to the edge of the bed and knelt between her legs. I kissed her all over her body, building up the anticipation, and finally made my way down. She tasted incredible, I couldn't get enough of her. She twisted around on the bed and moaned wantonly as I ran my tongue over her folds and her clit, tasting her deeply. I could tell she was close to climax as I pushed my fingers inside her to intensify her release.

"Look at me Sookie," I urged wanting to see in her face how I made her feel. I turned to her femoral artery, never breaking eye contact and widened my eyes slightly as if to ask permission. She nodded and I sunk my fangs into her thigh, pulling deeply, her delicious blood mingling with her juices on my tongue. I could feel her ecstacy through the blood. I had been fucking for a thousand years and it was all I could do to hold on.

I couldn't wait any longer and as she came down from her release, I began to nudge inside her, slowly, to give her time to adjust. She was so tight, I felt waves of pleasure roll over my body, augmented by the feelings I felt from her through the bond. Once I was all in, I began to withdraw slowly and slam into her with force, teasing her, tantalizing myself. She was getting close again and so was I. I felt her grab me, forcing me harder, deeper, so I changed position slightly, intensifying the feeling and she began to yell my name.

It was incredible but I wanted more. I wanted my blood inside her again.

I bit into my wrist, breaking the skin, and offered it to her. She immediately took it and drank me in fervently. I came undone drowning in the pleasure of my release intensified by the increase of the bond. I yelled at her in my native tongue, telling her that she was perfect, that she was mine and collapsed on top of her, unable to think coherently.

As I began to recover my equilibrium, I looked at her. She was so incredible, I was utterly beguiled. "That was perfect. You are perfect."

She smiled at me, as if in agreement, and I felt contentment.

Suddenly I felt a rush of panic through the bond. Sookie was agitated, her heart rate quickened. I felt myself stiffen.

"Gran must have heard us," she whispered. She was embarrassed that we had been so loud. I laughed in relief and pulled her to me, offering to glamour her grandmother after all. She laughed in response and I felt easy again.

We lay there for a few minutes, as I stroked her hair, revelling in the feel of her soft warm body against mine and then she broke the silence. "I had your blood again, what will that do to me?... Please tell me you didn't have an ulterior motive Eric?"

I smiled. It was true, I was under orders to augment the blood bond, sooner rather than later, but that hadn't even been going through my mind. Or at least it wasn't the foremost thought in my mind. I just wanted to replicate what I had felt in the palace but it was so much more intense this time around. I explained this to Sookie as exhaustion began to overtake her.

"Sleep," I urged. "It's been a long day."

"Will you stay?" she asked, almost hesitantly.

"Yes," I smiled that she wanted me to stay with her while she slept. "I will stay until just before dawn."

I left it as late as I could before I kissed her goodbye and then took to the night sky back to Shreveport.

0--0--0--0--0--0

I woke the next night and immediately reached out to Sookie through the bond. Her emotions were all over the place. I could feel lust, and that made me smile, but I could pick up heavy waves of confusion, unhappiness and resignation. I wanted to see her again but I had business to take care of first.

I got myself ready and made my way to the bar to check in with Pam. She arrived in my office half an hour later, carrying a large box, wrapped elegantly.

She handed it to me with a smile. I unwrapped it cautiously, looking at her questioningly as I did. A microwave?

"I assumed we'd be drinking more synthetic blood from now on, so it made sense to have a means of heating it up in the office. We are supposed to be attempting to mainstream after all..." she said wryly. I looked at her impassively and it occurred to me that she hadn't mentioned any arrangements for me to feed this evening. I realised I wasn't hungry. Not for anyone Pam could arrange for me in any case.

"I take it you managed to nurse Sookie through her ordeal last night," Pam continued. I shot her a warning look but she continued anyway. "She is quite the supernatural sex magnet, isn't she? I mean Compton seemed utterly obsessed and last night the wolf could hardly stop talking about her all the way home. Sookie this, Sookie that... He seems quite smitten. He is quite the hottie himself of course, if you like that sort of thing, I can see why there'd be an attraction..."

My thoughts ran briefly to ripping out Pam's voicebox. It would heal eventually, mores the pity, but it would keep her quiet for a few hours... Suddenly, my phone rang. I looked at it – Sophie-Anne. I gave Pam a look and she took a seat, retracting her fangy smile, getting down to business.

Sophie-Anne had called to tell me that the plan to reveal ourselves to the world had been moved up. A group of students in France had stumbled on the daytime resting place of a nest of Parisian vampires. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, of course, and the students had subsequently been glamoured into forget what they saw. However, one of the students had filmed the scene with his cellphone and the images had made their way onto the internet. The film had been removed and labelled a hoax but the damage had been done. The French authorities were showing an interest. They wouldn't be alone.

The next night was the full moon. Many of the vampire hierarchy, including Sophie-Anne, had daytime Were guards. They were generally less reliable the morning after the full moon. Some didn't bother turning up for duty at all. No one wanted limited protected the day after we came out of the coffin. As such, it had been decided that the announcement would be made two days hence.

Two days. Forty-eight hours.

"There will of course be much to do," Sophie-Anne trilled on as if she had made some profound statement. "Anyway, I have to call the remaining Sheriffs, so I shall leave you now. I'll let you know when I need you to bring the delightful Ms Stackhouse back to court..."

"Yes your majesty," I replied, my voice inexpressive. Fuck. I was hoping to have more time.

Once the Queen had hung up, Pam and I briefly discussed the implications of the news for Area 5. We also needed to accelerate our Fangtasia plans. She set to work and I made my way to Bon Temps for the third night in a row.

I waited for her in the car park at the dive where she worked. She came out, walking towards me. She looked tired but I felt her desire through the bond and it made me smile.

"Lover, what have you been up to today? Your thoughts have been awash with confusion since I awoke. Although now that I see you they seem to have become rather more... focused."

"Look Eric, I've had a very long day at work, after not very much sleep. I really just need to get home. Can we pick the smug banter up another day?" She snapped her reply at me and I was momentarily taken aback. What had happened since last night? It took me a second to get my disappointment and, well, confusion in check.

She seemed to soften slightly. I could feel her confusion as well. "Please Eric – I just need a little time," she whispered. She wouldn't make eye contact with me.

Something inside me hardened at that. I needed to get it together. She was an asset. I should proceed accordingly.

I nodded impassively.

"Thank you Eric," she whispered and finally looked at me. "I should go. I'll call you, okay?"

I wouldn't be dismissed so lightly. We had other things to discuss. "I'm afraid that's not all. I did want to see you tonight but I am actually here on official business."

I felt her disappointment through the bond. She didn't like it that I wasn't here just for her. I felt childish but it made me feel better that she was hurting just a little too.

"The Queen called me tonight. Due to... unforeseen circumstances, the timetable has moved up."

"Timetable?"

"The day after tomorrow," I said firmly. The more I said it out loud, the more I got used to the idea. "The announcement will be the day after tomorrow... In 48 hours the entire world will know of the existence of vampires."

She seemed fairly overwhelmed by the news but we agreed that she would come to the bar tomorrow night to discuss next steps. We had some human employees we needed to 'screen' for Fangtasia among other things. She said a polite good night and I watched her get into her car and drive home.

I pulled out my phone and called Pam.

"Eric?" she answered, in her trademark bored tone.

"Sookie has agreed to come to the bar tomorrow night to help interview the Fangtasia employees. Please set it up for nine. Also arrange for Cataliades to send the licensing and propety papers over." My voice was tight, impatient.

"Yes Master."

I paused. "I'll be back at the bar in about half an hour. Arrange for a meal to be waiting in my office. One that doesn't require a microwave."

She was wise enough not to change her tone. "Of course. Any special requests Master?"

I thought about it for a second. I knew it was for the best for everyone involved to keep our relations strictly business but I felt angry. Angry at Sookie for how things had been left, and at myself for letting her get to me.

"Blonde, Pam. Make sure she's blonde."

**A/N: As always, I'd love to hear what you think. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you so much to each and every one of you who have taken time to review this story. I really do appreciate it.**

**Apologies for the double alert on Chapter 8. Something happened to wipe the chapter for a while. So I thought I'd get this one posted super-quick to make up for it!**

**Back to the Sookie POV now. **

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

I woke at ten to the sound of the phone. It was Sunday. Gran was at church. I felt a brief flash of guilt for not going with her as I ran to the kitchen to pick the phone up.

"Hello Sookie, it's Alcide Herveaux."

"Oh hey Alcide," I replied, a little sleepily. "How's things?"

"Things are good, thanks. Uh, I just wanted to give you a call and apologise for being a little gruff with you yesterday. You caught me at a bad time. My ex had just stopped by, she likes to turn up and stir things up every now and again. Anyway, my mood was aimed at her, not you. It was really nice of you to call up and see how I was."

"Um, don't worry about it. I kinda just put it down to being the full moon and all," I joked.

He laughed. "No, no, unfortunately just my natural charm shining through." He paused. "So... I have to price a job in Monroe this morning and I was wondering if you fancied meeting up for lunch? I could come to Bon Temps?"

Oh, did not see that coming. I hesitated. Did he mean like a date?

"Sookie?" I realised I hadn't actually answered him.

"Sorry, um, sure." I tried to sound bright and alert. This was all a bit much before I'd even had breakfast. "That sounds great."

"Great," he replied. "I'll get to you for about one?"

"Sure, see you then." We said our goodbyes and he hung up.

Coffee. I needed coffee.

0--0--0--0--0

I did a little housework before jumping in the shower to get ready for my lunch with Alcide. I left my hair down and wavy and put on a little blue strapless sundress. I didn't bother with much make-up, my skin still looked amazing after having Eric's blood, just a little mascara and lip gloss.

He pulled up to the house in his truck at about ten to one. He was in a well-fitted navy blue suit and I remembered he'd come straight from a job. He'd obviously ditched his tie, undoing the top button on his crisp white shirt to expose a tiny sprinkling of dark chest hair. He seemed to have made an attempt to dampen down his hair but it was still pretty unruly and he ran a hand through it as he walked up to the porch. In truth, he looked like sex on a stick. I could really appreciate it now that I wasn't so caught up with worry for Gran.

"Hey Sookie," his smile was warm and genuine and I felt myself reciprocate.

"Hey Alcide, how was your meeting?"

"Oh fine, fine. Not my favourite way to spend a Sunday but things are definitely looking up." His smile widened and I blushed. "Sookie, you look lovely," he enthused.

I blushed again, deeper this time. I was starting to think that this was indeed a date. It wasn't really sure what to think about that, so I just started to babble nervously. "So where do you want to go for lunch? There's not really many places to go in Bon Temps, other than Merlotte's. The food there is simple but it's good. Or we could go to the fish place in Clarice. I haven't been but my friend Tara says it's good. Or there are plenty of places in Monroe. Oh, but you've just come from Monroe…"

"Merlotte's? The place where you work right?" He'd remembered from last time we met. Not bad. "I'm happy to go there if you don't mind going back to work on your day off?"

I said that it was fine. There really wasn't much to choose from in easy distance, especially on a Sunday. So we hopped in his truck and made our way there.

We sat in Arlene's section. She exchanged polite hellos with Alcide after I introduced them. Her thoughts about him were a far more lurid. She was also dying to know why I was out having lunch with a good-looking man who wasn't my husband. That thought seemed to be echoed in various guises by a few of the Merlotte's regulars. I was beginning to think this was a bad idea as I tried to put up some mental walls against their thoughts.

Arlene came over to take our order. I went for the burger and Alcide ordered the chicken-fried steak on my recommendation. I enquired after Sam but apparently he'd gone on a 'fishing trip' and wasn't due in until tomorrow afternoon.

Once she'd gone, I decided to quiz Alcide about Sam. I lowered my voice. "So my friend Sam, he owns this place, and, well, I haven't had a chance to speak to him about it yet, but I think he might be like you. You know, a…" I mouthed the word 'werewolf' and did a little claw impression with my hand. I instantly felt ridiculous. Alcide laughed, raising his eyebrows and mimicking my claw. I giggled and reached across the table to slap his arm. I briefly felt his hard biceps through his suit. Yum.

Alcide took a sip of his beer and then got serious for a second, checking around us to make sure no one was listening in. "I don't think he's exactly one of us. I would know him. Most of us run in packs and even the ones who don't are known by the rest of us. From the smell in the bar, I would say he was a shifter."

"A shifter?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yep. I can only change into a…" He did the claw sign again. We shared a smile. "A true shifter can change into any animal. Like me and other full-bloods, they're not restricted to the full moon, some lesser wereanimals are, but they do have to change at full moon like the rest of us."

"Wow," I said, slightly dazed. This was a lot to take in. I was about to ask him about other 'wereanimals' when I heard my brother Jason come in, hollering something flirtatious at Dawn, one of the other waitresses.

"Shit," I said, almost to myself. Alcide gave me a querying look. "My brother," I said waving my hand towards the noise that was Jason as if that should answer all his questions.

Jason went to the bar and got a beer and then made his way over to our table. Following close behind was his best friend (or minion, depending who was describing him) Hoyt.

"Hey Sook. Who's this?" He glanced at Alcide, suspiciously. His thoughts ran immediately to the fact that I was running around on Bill. God, what was it with these people? He didn't really care about Bill, I knew he'd never liked him and hadn't been as good as Gran at keeping that under wraps, but he didn't want anybody in town thinking his sister was a 'tramp'. The hypocrisy of it all, given Jason's proclivities, made my blood boil.

"Jason Stackhouse, I know full well that Gran did not bring you up to have those manners. This is my _friend_ Alcide Herveaux. Alcide, this is my fool of a brother and his long-suffering friend Hoyt Fortenberry." Hoyt, bless him, immediately reached over Jason to offer Alcide his hand. Alcide shook it with a smile. Jason, cocked his head to the side, and then followed suit begrudgingly.

"Bill's working, I suppose?" he asked, disdainfully. Bill's work ethic was legendary in town but I could tell Jason still wanted to get to the bottom of whether or not his sister was a slut. Arlene had picked up on a little tension at our table and had made her way over, ostensibly to see if we wanted to freshen up our drinks, but in actual fact just because she was being nosy.

I sighed. It had to come out sometime and if I told Arlene and Jason, it would save me a lot of time having to tell anyone else in town. I took a deep breath and blurted it out: "Bill and I are separated. He left town."

Arlene gasped. She gave me a sympathetic look but inside she actually felt pleased. She'd never been able to hold down a man and it made her happy that I couldn't either. I made a mental note to give Arlene a wider berth going forward. She actually wasn't a very nice person. Jason, to his credit, was immediately worried that I'd been hurt by Bill. His thoughts were running to getting the guys together and kicking Bill's ass. Bit too late for that. Hoyt just felt sorry for us both.

"What happened Sook? You getting a divorce?" Jason crouched down next to our table. I gave Alcide a look before I began to fabricate my story.

"We've actually been granted an annulment. It's like a divorce but you're treated as if you've never been married at all." I started to lay it on a bit thick. "I don't want to go into it too much, it's still too raw, but Bill has been lying to me for a long time. Keeping secrets. But it's over now. We won't be seeing him again."

Jason reached over and gave me a hug. "I never trusted that sum' bitch," he muttered. Another one, I thought wryly.

Arlene immediately concluded that Bill had been cheating on me. I was sure that by this evening, the rumour would be multiple affairs, men as well as women. I didn't care, I'd leave people to their own conclusions. It was better than the truth. I'd have to warn Gran though – the rumour would probably have spread before she got back from church.

"So he your new guy?" Jason said nodding at Alcide. "That's pretty fast work Sook." His tone was slightly less judgemental this time but he still wasn't sure. Fast work? He had no idea.

"Alcide is a… friend of a friend. He helped me with the Bill situation. We're just here as friends," I assured him. Jason nodded, seemingly satisfied. I couldn't read Alcide's thoughts clearly at all but I was sure I picked up a pang of disappointment at that last statement. Definitely a date in his eyes. Shit.

Jason and Hoyt eventually made their way over to the pool table and Arlene had no excuse to stay after she brought us new drinks. I tried to get Alcide back on topic. "So it's full moon tonight. You have to change?"

He smiled again. "Yes, everything intensifies for us around the full moon. Our emotions become stronger, so do our senses. And at night, we have to change."

"That must be fairly inconvenient at times?" I asked.

"It sure can be, especially when you're younger. You first start to shift when you hit puberty, so you can imagine what it's like. All the usual changes and then, bam, you're an animal too. Also it can affect what job you can do. Weres in the army, for example, have to be very careful. It's certainly not something I'd ever want to pass to my kids." He looked thoughtful for a second.

"It's hereditary?" I asked curiously. Was that rude, I wasn't sure?

"The first child of a full-blooded Were couple gets the gene. My dad's a Were and so was my mum. My sister Janice is completely human."

"I see," I replied. I did see. I didn't think my telepathy was hereditary, at least I wasn't sure, but if it was I'd definitely think twice about passing it on.

It was his turn to ask questions. "So, you had suspicions that your boss was a Were. And I know Eric Northman wouldn't go out of his way for a mere human… Am I allowed to ask?"

I smiled. If this was a date, it was one of the more bizarre ones I'd been on. We certainly didn't need to resort to talking about the weather.

"I'm a telepath," I admitted shyly at a whisper. Alcide's eyes widened with surprise. "I can read human minds very easily. Don't worry, Weres and shifters have a fuzzier brain pattern, so they're easy to detect but hard to read. That's why I thought you and Sam were the same. I can't read vampires at all."

"So you haven't been able to read my mind today…" Alcide asked uneasily.

"No," I confirmed, laughing at his panic-stricken face. "It's actually nice to be around y'all. It's peaceful. I try very hard to block people out, and I'm getting better, but it's tough and takes a lot of energy."

"Wow." It was Alcide's turn to be astounded. I giggled.

"I know."

Alcide dropped me home at around four. I could tell he was getting a bit fidgety and he explained that tended to happen before the full moon. He got out of his truck to open my door and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Physical contact seemed to make him easier to read and I got a flash of his thoughts – apparently I smelt fantastic. I could also pick up his lust but it was coupled with something softer, a caring, protective feeling that made me feel safe with him.

He promised to give me a call in the week and I skipped up the steps to the house.

0—0—0—0—0

Gran was back from church and was in the kitchen making a pecan pie. My mouth watered even though I'd just had lunch. With a warm smile, she handed me the spoon to lick, just like I used to when I was a child.

I filled her in on my story regarding Bill and what Eric had told me about the vamps coming out tomorrow. I could tell she was actually quite excited about that. Her ordeal with Bill hadn't made her hold it against all of them, it seemed. She was upset that everybody would be talking about me for a while, but agreed, even if the vamps did come out, it was better the town gossips thought I had been cheated on than married to a vampire who staked himself.

A couple of hours later we sat in front of the TV, watching one of Gran's beloved soaps, and eating hot pecan pie. For the first time in a long time, life felt normal again. I was happy.

When it got to about seven, I went upstairs and jumped in the shower to get myself ready to see Eric. I had mixed feelings about seeing him. On the one hand, my heart leapt at the thought of being around him again, touching him, generally spending time with him. But with Eric there was always something else, politics and business mixed in with the fun. I'd never spent time with him like I'd had this afternoon with Alcide, where it was free and easy.

Maybe I never would.

I spent ages trying to figure out what to wear. I was supposed to be going to the bar for business, but I knew I still wanted Eric to think I looked nice. Who wouldn't? That said, I didn't want to go there looking like I was trying to bed him again. Don't get me wrong, sex with Eric was never far from my mind, but I still hadn't sorted through my feelings for him, and I needed to do that first.

I settled on a black pencil skirt and a black and white fitted blouse that I bought on sale but had never actually worn. The blouse had cute little capped sleeves and accentuated my cleavage. Daring but not provocative, I assured myself. I finished the look off with my high black pumps. I straightened my hair, sweeping it back in a thin black Alice band, and accentuated my eyes with a little smudged liner. I left the house feeling confident, at least about how I was dressed.

0—0—0—0—0

I arrived at the bar just before nine and saw that Pam was on door duty. "Hey Pam," I waved as I approached.

She looked me up and down as I approached and arched her eyebrow. "Sookie, I'm glad you're here," she said, pulling me into an awkward embrace. Pam wasn't really a hugger.

And then she sniffed me.

"Pam?" I asked embarrassed. "What are you doing?"

"You smell of Were," she accused.

"I had lunch with Alcide today, so what?" I snapped. Even I thought it sounded like the lady was protesting a bit too much.

"So what? If I can smell Were on you that means Eric will be able to smell Were on you. He's been like a bear with a sore head since he left you last night and this is only going to make it worse." She paused and looked at me menacingly, eyes crazy. "I thought you were going to be good entertainment value but if all you're going to do is fuck him around, I'd rather you stopped now. For all our sakes."

"I'm not planning on fucking anybody around Pam," I spat. "I just asked him for a little space to process things. He was supposed to be giving me time."

"Well, I suppose I should take you to him," she sighed, seeming to have recovered her calm again.

She led me through the bar to his office in silence, knocking on his door as she approached. "Don't fuck this up," she hissed and was instantly gone.

I took a deep breath and walked in.

He was sitting behind his desk looking delicious in a charcoal shirt and black pants. His hair was tied back loosely but a couple of strands had escaped and fallen across his eyes.

"Hello Eric," I smiled sheepishly.

"Sookie, welcome, please sit down." His voice was tight, giving nothing away.

I sat down nervously. Why was I feeling so uncomfortable all of a sudden?

Eric looked at me dispassionately, all business. "So as you know, we're going public tomorrow at 9pm. Due to this, we're also having to move up the grand opening of Fangtasia. That will be in four weeks time. Tonight I'd like you to screen some of the proposed staff. We'll have to recheck them after the big reveal, of course, but we can get rid of any obviously bad apples in advance. I'd also like to talk to you about various other issues in relation to Fangtasia tonight and may need your help on other occasions in the lead up to the opening and beyond. As you know, the Queen will also be requiring your services at some point over the next few weeks..."

He handed me a document. I looked at it – it was a contract for services. My services.

He continued. "This contract should take care of everything required from you from Area 5. The Queen will put a separate contract in place with you for any services she will require. You'll want to read it of course but, in a nutshell, you will be required to commit up to 20 hours a month to Area 5. In return, you will receive a salary of $50,000 per annum. Of course, sometimes we will require you for less than 20 hours. If it's more, we will pay you an extra $200 for every hour or part thereof. You will also be covered by the bar's health insurance policy and be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses if you are required to travel outside of Area 5. I think that about covers it."

"Eric, I, um, I don't know what to say. Thank you." Oh my God – a $50,000 a year. I felt like screaming. It was so much money. "That sounds like a really generous offer." I couldn't help but beam at him and I noticed his face soften slightly, as the corner of his mouth lifted into a slight smile.

"The contract is initially for one year," he said. "But the parties can agree to an extension after that time."

"You didn't have to do this, did you?" I asked quietly. "Technically, you and Sophie-Anne could make me do all of this anyway. For free."

"It is true that Sophie-Anne may have initially considered it to be an unnecessary expense but I persuaded her of the benefit of having you as a loyal employee rather than an indentured servant. I did not have to, you are right, but I wanted to. I like to make sure my employees are well compensated. It ensures both loyalty and quality." He paused and then added tentatively: "I'll give you time to look over the contract of course but it would be great if we could have it in place by tomorrow night."

I looked him in the eye, he was so gorgeous, it made my breath catch. "I don't need time to consider Eric. I trust you. I'll sign it now."

Erc smiled and nodded. "Thank you Sookie." He grabbed a pen and came to my side of the desk, leaning over me to grab the contract. I felt his body press up against my back and my hearbeat accelerated. He brushed my hand as he turned to the last page. I shivered. "You need to sign here…" He breathed the word 'here' up against my ear, and I could feel my insides throb. "And here."

Then abruptly, he stood up, and returned to his side of the desk, brows knitted together in a deep frown.

"Eric," I asked, worried. "What's up?"

"You smell like Were," he groused.

Oh shit.

"Oh, yeah, um Pam mentioned that too. You vamps and your enhanced senses of smell…" I tried for casual but he was staring at me unwaveringly. "I, um, I went for lunch with Alcide today. Just to Merlotte's. Actually I should probably tell you that the whole of Bon Temps now thinks that Bill left me for another woman. I told my brother and my friend, well frenemy really, Arlene, about the annulment. So it's bound to have been spread round town by now. Arlene never could keep a secret…" I was jabbering on again, anxiously. I couldn't stop myself.

"It was a date?" He asked quietly, steadily. And then he frowned as if scolding himself.

"Um, no, well maybe… What I mean is from my point of view it was just lunch between friends. I think, um, in Alcide's mind it may have been slightly more." My turn to frown. "I'm not sure."

I looked down at my hands and could feel myself begin to sweat.

We were interrupted by a knock at the door. Pam walked into the office. I'd never been so happy to see her.

"Master, the candidates are here," she announced. Eric nodded and got up to leave the office motioning for me to follow.

I look at Eric questioningly and he filled me in. "Pam is going to interview six waitresses and a bar manager. At this stage we just need to know anything that might stand out, be an issue. So I just need you to listen in while they are being interviewed. See if anything comes up, okay?" I nodded. I could do that.

We went to a room behind the main bar. It had its own small bar in the corner, a few tables and chairs set out and others stacked against a wall. A private function room maybe? Pam indicated that I should sit down at one of the tables, she sat next to me. Eric stayed standing, leaning up against the bar. Moments later Clancy led in an attractive young redhead, in her early twenties. Pam made the introductions and then proceeded to ask her general questions about why she wanted the position, her availability etc. Pam's questions became deliberately more focussed, guiding her to think about areas of her life that might put us on alert.

The girl's name was April Kelly and she was a pretty straight-up, truthful person. She was putting herself through college and, by all accounts, it wasn't just me that Eric paid well, so she wanted the job pretty badly. I managed to glean from her thoughts that her parents were Weres, although she was fully human, so she knew all about the existence of the supernatural and knew full well that Pam and Eric were vampires. It didn't faze her. Her parents were not big vampire fans but she just considered them to be old-fashioned. I gave Pam an imperceptible nod and she offered April the job on the spot.

We went through the rest of the waitresses, all young and pretty I noticed grimly, and most of them were fine. One girl couldn't keep her thoughts off how hot Eric was. I found myself shifting in my seat uncomfortably but I still gave Pam the nod. I couldn't deny her a job, just for having good taste in men. Pam canned one girl when she answered affirmatively to Pam's question about fainting in the presence of blood. I had to stifle a laugh - that definitely would have been an occupational hazard.

The prospective bar manager was a whole different ball game, however. Marty Cranson was a thickset man in his early forties and apparently he'd been managing bars for a number of years. He immediately got a black mark from me for some lurid thoughts about my rack as he sat down and he sure didn't seem to like being questioned by two ladies. With some further clever questioning from Pam, I managed to ascertain that he and his moronic friends liked nothing better than to rough up 'homos' in their spare time, despite him outwardly avowing that his hobbies were "watching sports and coaching Little League." They had even been responsible for vandalising a couple of gay bars in the area and, more amusingly, defacing a Calvin Klein ad at a bus stop. I was going to go out on a limb and assume that a violent homophobe probably wasn't going to be an ideal employee in a vampire bar. I gave Pam the tiniest headshake.

She smiled menacingly at Marty and cooed, "Thank you for your time. We'll be in touch."

When Clancy had led Marty out, I explained what I'd got from them all. Pam and Eric agreed that Marty had to go.

"That was good work both of you. Very good." Eric grinned and Pam and I both smiled back, basking in his praise. "There's one final thing for tonight Sookie, if that's alright, and then I'll let you get back to Bon Temps." His demeanour had shifted subtly I noticed and I began to feel like I had the real Eric back.

"Lead the way boss," I replied flirtatiously, encouraging his good mood. And he grinned as he led me back to his office.

I sat down and he handed me some more papers. "Pam and I have discussed it and we would like to put this bar and Fangtasia into your name and also transfer the liquor licences across." I looked at him, dumbfounded. "It would just be in name only but, as you may know, you cannot hold a liquor license in Louisiana unless you are a resident of the State. There is a chance, when we go public, that there will some doubts for a while as to our status under the law. Will we actually be considered citizens? That sort of thing. Mr. Cataliades has suggested transferring vulnerable holdings to a trusted human to ease the transition... Until recently there was no such individual." I looked at him, incredulously, as he continued: "All our other assets are held via complicated offshore holding company structures, we doubt they will be at risk, so for now it is just the two bars."

I didn't know what to say. "Why me?" I asked quietly.

He looked at me, his face was calm, but his blue eyes burned intensely. I kept my nerve and didn't break eye contact. I knew he liked that. "It is like you said earlier. I trust you." He smiled warmly and my heart leapt.

"I don't want Alcide, Eric," I whispered. "I just need a little space to get myself together."

"I know," he nodded.

I smiled and grabbed a pen to sign the papers. "All done," I said triumphantly.

"Thank you," he said, simply.

I got up to go. "I guess I should be getting back to Gran…"

"Of course. I will walk you to your car." He guided me through the bar, hand in the small of my back and deposited me by my car.

"Good-bye Eric," I said softly.

"Good-bye Sookie." He looked at me, the faintest smile on his face, eyes sparkling with a million thoughts. I reached up to his face and stroked his cheek with my hand. Then, before I lost my nerve, I got on my tiptoes and kissed him softly. I felt my pulse quicken as he reciprocated, caressing his tongue against mine.

He pulled away first and kissed my forehead. "I'll see you soon," he sighed tenderly, then turned and headed back into the bar.

**A/N: Come on people, review, review, review! It really does spur me to write.**

**Next chapter? The Great Revelation!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all your insightful reviews and alert love. I really love writing this story and I'm glad that so many of you are along for the ride.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

The next night Gran and I stayed in together and made popcorn. Just before 9pm we sat down in front of the television and waited for history to unfold.

The vampires had managed to get simultaneous airtime on all networks and at 9pm all scheduled programmes were interrupted for an announcement by the President. Gran and I looked at each other in shock - Eric hadn't mentioned this. Had they glamoured the President? How else had they got him on board? Talk about a threat to National Security.

The President was standing behind a lectern in the White House press room. He looked tired and I wondered how long he had known. To his left was an elegantly-dressed blonde woman. I could tell straight off that she was a vampire and had probably been in her late thirties or early forties when she was turned. Next to her was a grey-haired man in his fifties; he looked Asian, I was guessing Japanese.

The President started off by saying that he had an historic announcement to make. He paused, seemingly not sure how to proceed, and then steeled himself and introduced the blonde woman as Nan Flanagan. Several members of the audience gasped as the President went on to explain that Ms Flanagan was a vampire and spokesperson for the American Vampire League. The press corps immediately erupted in a sea of microphones and flashing lights. They were clamouring for answers, questioning the President's words and, in some cases, his sanity. The President attempted to talk over the din, to assure everyone that they should remain calm, but eventually he just gave up, face grim.

After a few minutes of chaos, Nan Flanagan calmly took to the podium and an eerie hush fell over the room. She smiled at the camera and it occurred to me how shrewd the the American vampires were, choosing this petite elegant woman as their ambassador to humankind. She didn't look scary at all but, of course, I knew better.

Gran and I were transfixed as Nan Flanagan went on to confirm that this was not a hoax. She described vampirism as if it were merely a medical condition, with 'symptoms' such as an aversion to sunlight and the need to regularly replenish the blood supply. I noted, sardonically, that she made no mention of other common side-effects I'd encountered, such as super strength and speed, mind control and the apparent ability to kill without remorse.

She introduced Professor Ikuo Haramoto, a Japanese haematologist, who had been instrumental in developing synthetic blood. She assured the press that vampires were able to survive on the artificial blood and reiterated time and again that vampires were therefore not a danger to human beings. They had been people once after all and were committed to living alongside humans as regular citizens. Nan Flanagan finished her speech by giving out a web address for the AVL, which apparently had fact sheets and further information about vampires, and relaying a national helpline number for anybody who had any questions or concerns. I was willing to bet that hotline would be fairly busy over the next few hours.

Gran turned down the TV a little as the press corps exploded again. Seconds later, the phone rang and I picked it up knowing exactly who it would be.

"Hello Jason," I laughed, rolling my eyes at Gran. She smiled, knowingly.

"Hey Sook," he sounded anxious. "Have you seen the TV. I mean can you believe this? Real-ass vampires living among us this whole time."

"I know, it's all very shocking," I replied, deadpan.

"What we gonna do Sook?" Jason sounded genuinely flummoxed. The news seemed to have knocked him for six. I immediately felt a bit sorry for him, remembering how shocking it had been for me when I had found out.

"Um, I don't think there is much for us _to_ do, Jason," I said calmly. "We just carry on living our lives as normal and they keep living their lives as normal. I think we're safe, the President sure seems to think so. I'm sure it will all be alright. It will just take some getting used to is all."

"That's true, the President did seem okay with everything... And that pretty lady sure didn't look too frightening to me..." He sounded pensive, or as pensive as someone with Jason's brain capacity ever could. "Okay, I guess you're right. I s'pose they're people too after all." And like that, my brother was suddenly accepting of the existence of the supernatural. I smiled to myself. He really was remarkable sometimes.

I finally got Jason off the phone with the suggestion that he and Hoyt go discuss the issue over a beer at Merlotte's and went back to Gran as we marvelled how the world had just changed before our very eyes.

0--0--0--0--0

The weeks passed and the world adjusted to the news about vampires. One newspaper had heralded it as "The Great Revelation" and the term had kind of stuck. Reactions were mixed at home and abroad. The Catholic Church immediately excommunicated all vampires declaring them 'vessels of the devil'. Vampires in Catholic countries tended to have a fairly bad time of it in general, with many of those governments passing legislation outlawing their very existence. Vampires in the Middle East faired even worse; the female vampire who had made the announcement on Saudi television had been publicly hanged, and when that hadn't killed her, set on fire for all to see.

Reactions were far more accepting in Northern Europe, Canada and Japan. In the U.S., emergency legislation had been proposed to make vampires full tax-paying citizens and the AVL had mounted a huge campaign to get vampire rights on the agenda and persuade the general public that vampires were just like us, save for that pesky allergy to daylight and a reliance on bottled blood. As such, so-called 'vamp-tolerant' countries were seeing a huge influx of vampire immigrants. By all accounts many immigrant vamps were settling in Louisiana particularly, New Orleans apparently being some sort of spiritual home for the undead. I was sure Sophie-Anne would be delighted.

Elsewhere the gossip magazines were filled with celebrities hanging out with new vampire friends; sources said that Angelina had had a vampire lover in her past and, according to the National Enquirer, Lindsay Lohan had declared her intention to be turned. Bill notwithstanding, we'd yet to see a vampire in Bon Temps and people's initial consternation had slowly transformed into curiosity or, more commonly, apathy.

Not everyone was so laid back though. There had been a number of anti-vamp demonstrations all over the country and the newspapers reported that there had been a spike in church attendance in the weeks since the Great Revelation, particularly at more right-wing evangelical churches who were now holding themselves out as 'pro-human'.

I'd seen Eric twice in the intervening weeks; once to do a final mind check on his Fangtasia staff and once he'd accompanied me to New Orleans to read the minds of various new staff and business associates of the Queen. I hadn't seen her but Andre had been there and that was terrifying enough. Eric and I had kept things friendly but strictly business and I'd resisted the urge to repeat the car park kiss. I'd called Pam once too, to thank her for the invitation to the Fangtasia Grand Opening, which was scheduled for the coming Saturday night. She hadn't offered to transfer me to Eric and I hadn't asked.

I'd also seen Alcide a couple of times. We'd had lunch in Merlotte's again and I'd invited him bowling in Monroe one night with Jason, Tara, JB and I. He'd unsurprisingly been really good at bowling, much to Jason's annoyance. Tara kept on nudging me indiscreetly every time Alcide went to bowl but I seemed to have developed a good friendship with him and I was happy with that.

I still hadn't confronted Sam. I wasn't sure how.

0--0--0--0--0

The night of the Grand Opening came around and I found myself feeling fairly excited as I got ready for a night out at Eric and Pam's new bar. The invitation had instructed that I _"dress with bite"_ so I had bought myself a new dark red silk dress from Tara's shop. It was strapless, with an inner corset, the fabric draping Grecian style across my curves. I absolutely loved both it and the dark red peep-toe heels I had found to match. I left my hair down and loose and tried for sultry with my eyes and lips. I looked at myself in the mirror as I added some earrings and knew I looked good.

I couldn't wait for Eric's reaction when he saw me in my new outfit. Something about tonight felt like it would be a turning point with us and I realised with a smile that I was ready for it to be. I left the house just after ten with a spring in my step (and a characteristic eyebrow raise from Gran) and set off to Shreveport.

Fangtasia couldn't have been any more different from Eric's old bar. It was painted jet black on the outside, the neon sign was bright red and I could hear pumping rock music from within.

I already liked the other bar better.

Eric and Pam had chosen to milk every vampire cliché in the book and so had most of the clientèle. There was a huge line forming down the street and most of the participants looked like they had ordered their outfits direct from S&M Weekly. I'd never seen so much PVC in one place, nor so many piercings. And black. Everyone was in black.

I made my way to the front of the queue where Pam was standing, clipboard in hand. I had to stifle a laugh as I took in her long black leather bustier dress, complete with studded leather collar and matching cuffs. Her eye make-up was dark and dramatic and her fangs were out, gleaming against her dark red lipstick. She looked fantastic but terrifying. Presumably that was the look she was going for.

"Hey, Pam," I smiled as I approached. "You look, er, lovely tonight."

"Yes, well, we are under instructions to dress in a way which will enthral the vermin, so here I am, enthralling…" she motioned to herself with a graceful wave of the hand.

"And doing a very fine job of it too," I laughed. "You too Clancy," I added to the red-headed vampire at Pam's side who was sporting seemingly sprayed-on black PVC pants and a red silk shirt, buttons open to the waist. He nodded curtly; I didn't need to read his mind to know that Clancy was not my biggest fan.

Pam took a moment to assess my outfit, running her tongue over her fangs as she did so, and then opened the red rope barrier to let me into the bar. "He's on the stage," she said wryly and motioned me in.

The black and red theme continued inside, with blood red walls, black PVC furniture and still more neon. It was like a vampire theme park, various pictures of Bela Lugosi and Klaus Kinski on the walls and vampire dancers on little podiums contorting themselves into odd positions. There was even a gift shop selling "Bite Me" t-shirts and Fangtasia merchandise.

The bar itself was huge and took up one entire side of the room. Various types of bottled blood were on display, alongside the more regular alcohol. I giggled to myself at the thought that, technically, I owned this establishment. It was too bizarre to contemplate.

I made my way through the throng of local business dignitaries, hangers-on and 'fang-bangers', a term coined by the conservative media for those people who wanted to have sex with, and be bitten by, vampires.

And then I saw him.

Eric was, as Pam had indicated, up on stage. He was dressed all in black leather; tight trousers, boots and a long fitted coat. The coat was left unbuttoned and he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, his gorgeous chest almost painfully white in contrast to the black leather. His hair was down, grazing his broad shoulders. He was on what looked to be a type of throne, legs askance, leaning back decadently. He looked incredible.

He was looking in my direction, heatedly, and I knew he'd been watching me since I came in. I looked straight at him as I walked towards the stage, trying to assume an air of confidence, but I couldn't keep the blush from my cheeks. He gave me a self-satisfied smirk as I approached him, clearly sensing my lust, offering me a large cool hand to help me up the stairs to the stage.

"Sookie," he murmured, voice laced with sex, "you look breathtaking."

"You don't breathe," I joked, self-deprecatingly, but he continued to stare at me, eyes intense. "Thank you," I replied, quickly, shyly, when I couldn't take any more, and lowered my eyes from his. He nodded in the direction of the bar and immediately a vampire came over with a stool for me to sit on. He took my drinks order and Eric motioned for me to sit.

"You don't look too bad yourself, you know," I said after a pause. That was an understatement, if ever I heard one. "Very Thor meets the Matrix…"

He laughed at that. "Yes, well, we all have to do our bit to enthral…"

"The vermin?" I interrupted. "Yes I know. Pam updated me."

"Pam has spent the last few hours answering mundane questions about vampires cleaning their fangs and turning down offers from fat sweaty men to bite them. She is not too enamoured with the vermin plan," he laughed. "But it is good for business," he added firmly.

"I can see that," I replied as I surveyed the crowd. The place was packed and, judging by the queue around the block, was only set to get more crowded. I was trying very hard to keep my shields up against the onslaught of human thoughts. This was the biggest crowd I'd been in since discovering my telepathy and it was harder still when the majority of the thoughts were currently about me: who I was, who I was to Eric, and some other slightly less pleasant variations.

"Your idea seems to have been a winner," I continued. "Although I saw on TV that a vampire bar opened in London last week, so you weren't quite first off the post," I teased.

He frowned, "Yes I know. I actually know the owner of that bar, a vampire named Lawrence. I spoke to him a few days ago to see if he'd had any teething issues we should be aware of. He's the one who advised that we put hidden cameras in the restrooms."

"Oh?" I made a mental note to use the staff bathroom if I needed to go.

"Yes. Apparently he found himself in trouble with the authorities due to one or two vampires feeding on his human patrons, all consensual of course, but still against the law in England as it is here." It was a felony for a vampire to feed on a human without permission, or in a public place, whether consensual or not. As things stood, behind closed doors, consensually, anything was possible. I felt myself flush at the thought.

I took a sip of the gin and tonic that had magically appeared at my side and surveyed the women at the foot of the stage, all dancing provocatively in barely-there attire, vying for Eric to notice them. I knew, even without listening in, that they were all hoping for a little consensual blood-letting themselves. I doubted Eric had had to work that hard before for blood or a bedmate, but now that vampires were 'out', it would be almost painfully easy for him. My stomach clenched as I attempted to ignore them all, looking away, trying to dampen down my jealousy so that Eric wouldn't feel it.

"So how have you been?" he asked, voice low, careful, watching them too with cold eyes. And then he looked at me, tender smile ghosting across his lips, and I felt my heart flutter.

"Good, I've been good. Working hard, getting back to normal life," I smiled. "I, er, packed up Bill's things last week. Gran helped me. I feel like I've had closure on that particular part of my life. The town gossip seems to have calmed down a bit too. You vamps stole my thunder…" I joked nervously. I took a breath and forged on, though not very eloquently. "I've had a lot of time to think about things and I'm feeling positive about, um... things…"

"By things you mean me," he said, nodding, certain.

"Yes, I guess so," I replied tentatively.

"Good. I have been thinking about things too. I'm going to have to stay here until closing and do my bit for business, but I was hoping that maybe you'd stay with me," he paused, "and, perhaps, come back to my house tonight? We could talk and go from there."

"I'd like that," I replied, smiling, feeling a warm glow down to my peep-toes. I tried to be at least a little sensible: "But don't you think that we should take things slowly, at least until we see how things go…?"

"We do not have to have sex if you do not wish to. Though, just for the record, I very much do wish to, especially when I see you in that beautiful dress. I want to fuck you in it. And then I think about what is underneath…" He lifted an eyebrow and I had to smile while my insides did a mini somersault. "But I also like to snuggle, if that is what you want... I assure you that I am just as skilled in that area as I am in _others_." He was trying to make me laugh and it made my heart swell.

I found my resolve. What was I waiting for exactly? I knew I wanted this. Wanted him. "Yes," I said leaning closer to him. I could smell leather and the unmistakably masculine smell that was all Eric. "I'll come home with you later."

"I promise I will be a most attentive host," he whispered in my ear, ghosting a kiss on my collarbone before leaning back as if to drink me in. I felt my nipples harden as my heart rate increased. I blushed again and turned to look out across room, in a futile attempt to hide my burning face from his gaze.

I saw a man I recognised standing by the bar although I couldn't quite place him. He seemed out of place somehow and I realised with amusement that it was because he looked kind of normal. No black, no leather, just blue jeans and a t-shirt.

He also looked wrong because everyone else in the bar was trying to stand out, be noticed. Something about his body language made him look as if he was trying to blend, to hide in plain sight... I watched him. Something wasn't quite right.

All of a sudden a number of things happened at once.

I realised who the man was and instantly let down my shields, the force of all the human minds in the room barraging into me like a punch to the head. Eric looked at me questioningly, feeling my sudden distress. I began to panic noticing another man, and then another, at various points in the room. All standing out due to their attempts to look inconspicuous. I turned to Eric, knowing we were in danger, hearing it from their heads...

I screamed at him to "Get down!"

I felt it then. A searing pain, burning through my body, forcing me down.

And then everything went still. Everything went black.

**A/N: Want to know what happens next? You know what to do....**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Well, I've finally answered that time-old question: How do you get your readers to leave you lots of lovely reviews? The answer is clearly to taunt you with an evil cliff-hanger!**

**Thank you to all of you who have left comments and added me to your alerts.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

"Sookie, Sookie," I opened my eyes to see Eric above me, shaking me lightly.

I gave him a weak smile and he closed his eyes with relief. "Hey," I croaked. "What happened?" I looked around me, I was on the couch in Eric's new office.

"You've been shot," he said grimly, pressing a towel into my side. "You're losing a lot of blood..."

It started to come flooding back. "Eric," I said, urgently, making as if to sit up. "Marty Cranson, the bar manager guy... I saw him and a couple of others. It was him." Pain scorched my body and I realised that moving was a mistake. I winced and immediately felt a rush of dizziness.

I moved my hand to my side, it felt warm, wet, sticky with blood. My thoughts immediately went to my lovely dress. Damn.

"Don't move Sookie," Eric said softly. "Pam and Clancy have gone after those responsible. I need to get the bullet out of you. And then I need to give you my blood to heal. Do you understand?"

I nodded, my head heavy, woozy. "Another blood exchange." My eyes glanced at Eric's body and panic rushed through me. "Eric, you've been shot too..."

"Shhh. Don't worry," he said calmly. "Luckily the shooters were as incompetent as they were ignorant. Bullets cannot do me any harm. You on the other hand..." He began to rip my dress to get to the wound. I felt blood trickle over my bare skin.

"Lover, I'm going to suck on the wound to try and remove the bullet. This may hurt, I'm sorry."

"If you're hungry Eric, you only have to ask..." I tried to joke, it came out as a croak.

He smiled and dipped his head to my stomach. I felt a pressure as he began to draw on the wound. The pressure turned to a blazing sting as I felt the bullet move through me. Finally, after what seemed an age, Eric caught it in his teeth and spat it to the floor, my blood trickling down his chin. I felt the wound begin to gush free, my body heady with a mix of pain and nausea. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Eric's wounds had healed themselves and his pale chest was crusted with dried blood.

My blood and his.

Quickly, he bit into his wrist and offered it to my dry lips. I felt shadows cloud my vision as I reached for him, weakly, and began to drink. I heard Eric moan with pleasure in my periphery, but I concentrated on the feeling of his power coursing into me, flooding through me. I could almost feel the wound knit itself back together. Suddenly, I felt a wave of exhaustion crash over me and I closed my eyes, drifting back into unconsciousness.

0-0-0-0-0

I'm not sure how long I was out but I woke, drowsily, to the sound of voices, talking low and rapidly. It took me a few minutes to identify Eric and Pam, as my senses began to sharpen and I took in my surroundings. I saw that Pam's dress was ripped but she seemed otherwise unharmed.

"The police have been dealt with Master, although I had to agree that you and Sookie would go in to make a statement at a later date. Felicia is dealing with the calls from the press. I have briefed her to say as little as possible until you have had a chance to run this through the proper channels."

Eric nodded. "And them?" It was almost a whisper, his voice heavy with controlled rage. I realised then that I could not only hear the rage in his voice, I could feel it rolling through me like a warm wind.

The third blood bond. I could feel his emotions now too.

"Clancy has taken the assailants to the warehouse. He is waiting for us there. And I found this in their car..." Pam handed Eric a file and he flicked through it.

His voice was tight, almost a growl. "They had a picture of her from her driving licence?"

"I assume she was also a target because she is on record as Fangtasia's proprietor." Pam said quietly. "We won't know until later if they knew she was human."

I went to shift my position slightly and both Pam and Eric whipped around to face me.

"Sookie, you are feeling better?" he asked, voice calm again.

"I think so," I replied at a hoarse whisper. I looked down at myself and noticed that someone had removed my dress and I was wearing a large Fangtasia t-shirt that almost reached my knees. I moved my hand to where the bullet had entered. It felt tender, as if I had a bad bruise, but didn't feel like an open wound. "Thanks to you," I added and smiled at him.

"If it weren't for me you wouldn't have been shot in the first place," he muttered, voice tight and bitter. I could feel his anger again through the bond although this time it was more controlled. This was really going to take some getting used to.

Pam looked from Eric to me and back again. "I should go," she drawled. "Sookie, I'm glad that you are recovered. Master, I'll meet you at the warehouse." She headed out of the office, shutting the door behind her.

I began to sit up. "Sookie, you need to rest," Eric instructed firmly.

"I know," I replied. "But I have some human needs that require attention. Preferably somewhere without cameras," I added with a smile.

"Yes, of course. The staff bathroom is down the hall to the right," he said. "Do you need help to walk?" he asked, eyes full of concern.

"No thank you, I should be fine. I just feel like I've bruised my side. It's amazing really when you think about it."

I got up and shuffled barefoot down the corridor. After I'd used the bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror and lifted up the t-shirt. There was a pinkish dent, like a new scar, in my side but the wound had completely healed. I touched it tentatively, it felt smooth and little sensitive, but it really was remarkable.

I realised then that I had been cleaned up of all the blood and I wasn't wearing my original panties. I recognised the underwear from the Fangtasia gift shop. I didn't know if it was Pam or Eric who had cleaned and dressed me; I sighed, resigned, unsure which was the better alternative. There was a little dried blood in my hair and my eye make-up was slightly smudged but I didn't actually look that bad considering. I tidied myself up a bit and made my way back to Eric's office.

Eric was on the phone and it sounded serious. I went back over to the couch, sat down and curled up my legs underneath me. He looked at me and raised a finger, indicating that he'd just be a minute. I nodded.

Eric made his way over to the couch and sat opposite me. I felt so many emotions from him: anger, bitterness, determination but as he looked at me there was also something very tender and caring.

"That was Sophie-Anne," he said as he hung up the phone. "There have been attacks on vampire-owned establishments and residences all over the state. It seems to have been a coordinated, if fairly amateur, set of attacks." I inhaled sharply, incredulous, as he continued. "New Orleans was apparently particularly badly hit. Two vampire-friendly hotels and an all night dry cleaners." He paused, as if thinking, brows knitted together. I reached for his hand and he looked down at my hand on his. "The palace was also attacked. Some kind of rudimentary explosive. Andre is lost. The Queen is inconsolable with grief. Marietta, the Queen's lover, and a couple of other humans have been hospitalised with severe burns." He sighed, withdrawing his hand to run it through his hair. "I am afraid she has demanded we go to New Orleans tomorrow to interview some suspects."

"I'm so sorry Eric," I said. "I'll never understand how people can be so full of hate for things they don't understand..." He nodded impassively. "What will this mean for the bar?" I asked. Fangtasia was Eric's baby, I hated the thought that all his hard work would be ruined.

"The bar will stay open," he replied firmly. "We will have to top up security of course. Metal detectors, that kind of thing. But this... act of aggression will not deter us. If anything it should add to the dangerous allure of the world of vampires." He shrugged. "Business will probably triple," he added sourly, arching his brow. I gave him a small smile. Eric was nothing if not pragmatic.

"And what about Cranson and his cronies?" I asked quietly.

"Pam and Clancy are taking him and two others to be questioned now," he said darkly. "I should join them soon. We only have a few hours until dawn."

"Questioned? Or do you mean tortured?" I asked, suddenly agitated.

"Sookie they tried to kill you," he said, trying to reason. "Tried to kill me, Pam... You were not the only human hit either, you know. Two fangbangers and a waitress were also taken to hospital, nothing critical but it could have been much worse. We need to find out who coordinated these attacks. And they must be punished."

"But punished by the proper authorities, Eric. You can't just torture them to death, I don't care what they've done." Eric looked at me questioningly, seemingly confused by my oh-so-human reaction. He was so frustrating sometimes. "And you yourself believe that information obtained under torture is often unreliable. Information obtained by mind-reading on the other hand..."

He just shook his head in a way that told me he would brook no argument. "No. You have been put at risk enough already..."

I sighed, looking at him. He was still sporting the leather trousers but had lost the coat and put on a plain black t-shirt. He looked world-weary. For once I could see the weight of his thousand years behind his eyes and I instantly wanted to comfort him, make it go away.

I leaned over to him, slowly, and to touch his chest, smoothing my hand over his hard muscles. "Are you okay?" I asked. He looked at me quizzically. "I mean are you all healed?"

He nodded.

I edged further towards him on my knees, looking into his eyes. I reached to touch his cheek, feeling his slight stubble under my warm hand, and then leaned forward to kiss him, first one cheek, then the next. "Sookie," he said cautiously, "you were just shot..."

"So were you," I replied quietly and kissed him softly on the lips.

He grabbed me then, his large hands firm on my hips, pushing me down under him onto the couch. I opened my legs and he settled between them in one swift movement. I felt my body react to him as he looked at me, eyes carnal but never leaving mine. He ran his thumb roughly across my bottom lip, with an urgency that left it tender, bruised. I took his thumb into my mouth sucking and biting gently. He kissed me then, passionately, tongue urging for entry into my mouth, hand palming my breasts as I arched into him. I could feel his lust through the bond, as desire began to spiral through my body.

I also felt something gentler from him, something purer. I let myself absorb it. Relaxing into it, melting into him.

I fisted my fingers through his hair as he began kissing and licking slowly down my neck making his way towards my breasts. He lifted my t-shirt off me gently, stroking my body with the back of his hands. I shivered as he made his way to my panties, stopping briefly to kiss my new scar, hooking his thumbs either side and easing them down my legs. He was still completely dressed and I had never felt so naked, so exposed.

"You are so amazingly beautiful," he smiled, drinking me in, eyes dark with need.

"And you're way too overdressed," I laughed. Smiling as he immediately began to remedy the situation.

Once he had shed his clothes, I pulled him to me. Kissing him hard, hungrily, running my tongue over his fangs. He moved his hand between my legs and I writhed against it, gasping his name. It wasn't enough contact so I reached for him, tugging him gently towards me.

"Eric," I pleaded, "I need you inside me. Please."

He pulled his hand away and positioned himself at my entrance. I shifted under him, guiding him in. I felt his length pulse inside me, sensing his desire pool into me augmenting mine. I knew he could feel it too. We were feeding off each other through the bond and it was intoxicating. I closed my eyes as waves of pleasure coasted through me.

"I nearly lost you today. I will not lose you." I could feel his need through the bond and hear it in his voice.

I opened my eyes and looked unswervingly into his. "You won't lose me. I'm yours."

He pulled out abruptly with a low growl and sitting back on his heels, grabbed my leg roughly to turn me on my front. I gasped as I braced myself against the arm of the couch, as he ran his palm along my folds and then entered me again hard, urgently, deeper than he had ever been. I could feel his possessiveness through the bond and, although I knew I shouldn't, I revelled in it. We had nearly lost each other and he needed this. I needed it too.

I felt my insides begin to tighten around him as my orgasm began to ripple through me. I arched my back into him, forcing Eric deeper still. I pulled my hair to one side, offering myself, and he sunk his fangs into my shoulder blade, triggering my release and his. I screamed out, bucking underneath him.

He stroked my hair as we came down from an amazing high, licking my shoulder indolently and then withdrawing slowly, pulling me into him on the couch.

"That was like... wow," I said, wide-eyed. I had lost my ability to form coherent sentences.

"Yes it was," he agreed with a smile. "One thing I would like to know, however, Lover?"

"Yes?" I purred, snuggling into him like a cat. I was getting used to the whole 'lover' thing now and found I actually quite liked it.

"For how long exactly have you been able to hear my thoughts?"

Shit.

I shifted against him, uncomfortable all of a sudden. Was he angry? I couldn't feel it through the bond but I realised that I couldn't feel much of anything. Should I try to deny it? Would he know I was lying?

I took a deep breath. I knew he wouldn't hurt me; I trusted him. So I told him the truth. "I've only ever heard your thoughts once, at the airfield after we came back from New Orleans. You said something about me being yours." I hesitated. "I was scared, so I didn't tell you. And I've tried doing it again to make sure and I couldn't, so I assumed it was a fluke. But I guess I just did it again?"

"Yes," he said sounding perturbed. "You replied to something I was thinking. Sookie this is really quite serious..."

"I know that Eric but it's not like I can control it. One of the reasons I like you all is because you're silent to me. Plus I guess the two times it has happened, I've just had your blood and we've been in the, er, heat of passion. I've never heard anyone else and I've tried to see if I can with Pam and Clancy."

"I suppose I should have anticipated this as a side-effect of the bond," he frowned. "Sookie, no one may know. Not even Pam. Do you understand? And don't try it out on other vamps again, I think I felt you when you did it to me. Someone else might too. Even I may not be able to protect you if people suspect that you can read us."

"I understand," I said, nodding into his chest. "I'm sorry. Are you angry?" I asked meekly.

"No, I am not angry," he said softly. "And who knows, it may even work to our advantage one day." I laughed; Business Eric was back.

He kissed my forehead and made to get up off the couch. "I have to go assist Pam," he said, pulling on his clothes, voice full of regret. "I'm sorry." He smiled at me apologetically.

"Please let me come with you Eric? I really could help and I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do. Isn't this exactly what Sophie-Anne will have me doing tomorrow in any case?"

He shrugged his shoulders in a very non-Eric move. "Fine," he said, voice resigned. "We need to find you something to wear though..."

I looked down at my still naked form and suddenly felt very self-conscious. "I should have some yoga pants and gym shoes in my car. If I could trouble you for a slightly smaller t-shirt, that should work."

I tossed him my car keys, someone had rescued my purse after the shooting, and, pulling on the huge tee again, went to clean myself up in the staff bathroom. Eric came into the bathroom with a grey t-shirt bra with tiny red vampire bats on it (miraculously in the right size), a fresh pair of panties to match and a "VAMPS DO IT BETTER" sweat top in a medium. I pulled on my yoga pants and Nikes. I looked like I was going to the gym. Well, sort of.

"What a perfect outfit to go interview some vampire hating fanatics," I suggested, sarcastically, as I pulled the tag off the sweat top.

"I thought so," he grinned, clearly quite pleased with himself. "And you yourself can vouch for the veracity of the statement..." he leered.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. His ego was big enough without me inflating it.

0—0—0—0—0

We pulled up at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Shreveport just before 3am. Eric grabbed my hand and led me into the dark space. There was a glow at one corner of the room from a couple of dim light sources and I could make out Pam and Clancy and three figures each tied to a chair. Pam raised an eyebrow at my get-up as I approached. She could talk.

I recognised Marty Cranson, I wasn't sure if the other two were the men I had seen in the bar or not. They had been roughed up, one man's eye was partially shut due to swelling and he had a split lip, Cranson was bleeding from his cheek, but they weren't in as bad condition as I was expecting.

I let down my shields; their thoughts were overwhelmingly full of fear.

I deduced that shut-eye's name was Jim and he was Marty's brother. Their mother must be so proud, I thought to myself dourly, and then sighed as it occurred to me that she probably was. Men like these were made, not born. The other man's name was Carl. He was a wiry man, with small black eyes and a thin moustache. He wasn't as scared as the other two I noted. His thoughts were ugly, seething with hate, for the vampires and for me. He looked at my sweat top and spat at me, saliva mixed with blood. I knew then from his thoughts that he was the one who had shot me and he'd been well aware that I wasn't a vampire. It didn't matter to him, I was tainted by association.

"Him." I gestured to Carl with a nod. "He's the one who shot me, shot us. We'll start with him."

Eric nodded in agreement and Pam gave him a fangy smile. She went over to a small table where Clancy was already standing and I realised with horror that it had a number of implements on it to be used for 'extracting information'.

"No Eric," I said, voice aghast, putting my hand on his arm. "Let me try my way first."

Pam and Clancy spun around to look at us. Pam's face was blank. Clancy, however, looked furious. I could feel Eric's irritation through the bond and realised that I had overstepped some perceived mark. Really though, I didn't give two hoots if I had broken vampire protocol. I wasn't about to see these people be tortured if I could prevent it.

"Please Eric," I appealed quietly. His eyes had gone dark, his mouth drawn in a tight line but he nodded rigidly. "Thank you," I whispered, making my way over to Carl.

"Hi there Carl," I smiled sunnily at him. "I'm Sookie Stackhouse but I guess you already know that."

"How does that bitch know my name?" he thought angrily.

"Oh I know a lot about you sweet pea," I smiled again, insanely bright, having fun with this now. His face sank as suspicion ran through his mind. "And you're going to tell me more or I'll have no choice but to unleash my friends here," I gestured to Pam and Clancy, "and let them try their way…" Pam smiled at that.

"Who do you work for Carl?" I asked, serious now.

"I ain't telling you shit," he snarled at me but inside his thoughts flashed to a church. He was in small room with a few other guys and their pastor, planning the attack.

"His church," I said to no one in particular. Carl's head snapped up and the other two gasped. "They're calling themselves the Fellowship of the Sun. Networks of like-minded Neanderthals in _pro-human_ churches across the state. And Texas. It looks like the pastors co-ordinate things, but there's some guy in Texas at the top. He doesn't know him…" Eric was right; the network seemed quite amateur at the moment, full of hate but loosely organised. That said, it had only been four weeks since the Great Revelation. They would eventually get more sophisticated.

Carl tried to flash his thoughts away from Texas but I knew I was onto something. "What's happening in Texas, Carl?" He began reciting the Lord's Prayer in his head over and over to avoid thinking about it. He was smarter than the others too.

I switched to the others: "Marty, Jim, what's gonna happen in Texas?" Their thoughts rushed to the plan and I inhaled sharply. "Tomorrow night, they're going to be doing the same in Texas. Two vamp hotels in Dallas, one in Austin, and a… a vampire-friendly brothel in Abilene…" Eric turned to Pam and she nodded, pulling out her phone and making her way out of the warehouse.

"Why? Why us?" I asked, disgusted.

"Vampires are abominations of the devil," Carl spat. "And you betray your humanity by associating with them." His thoughts came rushing into me, like a burst dam. The current plan was to move against vampire businesses and those associated with them, to encourage the vampires to vacate the state. Pam was right, they had run the property records and licensing records for Fangtasia and my name had come up. Carl was part of a group hoping they'd escalate soon, start killing fangbangers as a message to women and men who associated with the undead. My name, and those of a handful of other humans, had already been put on a 'hit list' – higher profile human targets to be killed alongside the vampires because we kept vampire company.

I felt a shiver run up my spine as I relayed this all to Eric. He wouldn't look at me. Not a good sign. I could tell he was trying to dampen down his wrath, but some of it was escaping, filtering into my consciousness like hazy black smoke. His anger began to feel like mine.

"Humanity? You don't know the meaning of the word. You call yourself Christians?" I sneered at them. "God would be ashamed of you all." Only Carl replied, calling me whore, and I felt myself snap. I pulled my hand back and slapped him so hard around the face that his chair rocked backwards. My hand stung from the impact.

I looked at Carl, my handprint crimson on his cheek, and turned to Eric. "I need some air," I said, trying to calm myself.

He nodded grimly. "I think we are done here in any case." He looked at Clancy: "Drop them off at the nearest police station after you have glamoured them."

Clancy looked surprised but knew better than to question his instructions. "Yes Master," he replied tightly. I could sense him scowling at me again as I began to walk out of the warehouse. I didn't care.

I made my way towards the car park, flopping down against Eric's car as I began to feel a little woozy. Reading the mind of the person who tried to murder you will do that to a girl. Eric came towards me and crouched down beside me gracefully.

"I'll be alright in a sec," I said quietly. "I just needed a minute. Are we heading back to yours now?"

Eric frowned. Something inside me suddenly noticed that he hadn't tried to touch me or come as close to me as he normally would. "I don't think that is a good idea," he said coolly, voice giving away nothing. The bond was empty, void.

"Eric?" I questioned, suddenly confused.

He hesitated for a second, as if finding the right words. "This, us," he gestured between us, "is not going to work Sookie," he said voice low, not making eye contact. "It's a bad idea and I should never have let it get this far." He paused, looking up but through me. "I am sorry, Sookie."

"You're sorry?" I sneered, bitterness consuming me as hot angry tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried to blink them back but I couldn't stop them. "You cold bastard. You had sex with me less than _two_ hours ago and now you're sorry…" I spat the words out like venom. He didn't flinch.

"You should go home, get some sleep," he said, steadily, standing up. "Pam will take you to collect your car." I wanted to tell him to fuck Pam, fuck the car, but I needed to get home. Pam wandered over and, without looking back, I followed her to the minivan in silence. How much had she heard? All of it I assumed.

She pulled up by my car in silence and I immediately left her and got into mine. We hadn't said a word in the car and I didn't thank her for the ride as I got out. I might feel bad about that at some point but didn't today. I cast one last look at Fangtasia and then headed at speed towards Bon Temps.

Dawn was arriving as I pulled into Hummingbird Lane and made my way to Gran's. I was exhausted, emotionally spent. I just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a hundred years. As I pulled into the driveway, I noticed someone sitting on the porch swing. My thoughts ran to the time Eric did that and I immediately scolded myself. Eric had just discarded me; I needed to pull myself together. In any case the sun was coming up. It wasn't him.

As I got a little closer, I recognised the broad frame and dark messy hair. It was Alcide.

He walked over to the car, broad smile on his face. I opened the door and he pulled me out, hugging me to him.

"Sookie, thank God," he said with relief. "I was at the bar. I saw it all. Pam said you were ok but I was so worried. They wouldn't let me see you."

I looked up at him, his eyes were full of genuine concern, and my tears began falling uncontrollably, sobs racking through my body. He pulled me into his warm chest and I leant against him, using him for support, as I let all the shock and grief at the night's events pour from me. Alcide just stood there, soothing me, stroking my hair as I shuddered against him silently.

When I had managed to calm myself, he pulled away, gently wiping my tears with his thumb and then scooped me up into his arms. I closed my eyes, feeling tired and numb, as he carried me into the sanctuary of my grandmother's house.

**A/N: So what do you think? All reviews (preferably not of the death threat variety!) gratefully received. I've got a feeling there may be a few more calls for an Eric POV after this chappie! **

**Let me know your thoughts. Reviews make me type with the ferocity of a jilted telepath…**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: You guys are amazing! I'm tickled pink with all your reviews – thanks so much. So I know I put you all through the wringer a bit last chapter – let's see what I can do to make it up to you...**

We're still on a Sookie POV but hopefully this chapter will answer some of your more burning questions.

Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.

I woke to the smell of coffee and bacon wafting through the house. For the first few seconds of waking, the smell caressed my consciousness, I felt contented as I stretched out warm and rested under the covers. But little by little the events of last night began to bleed cruelly into my waking mind. I felt a cold shiver run through me and felt for the bullet scar to check if it was true. My body was mended but my heart was in tatters.

I threw back the sheets, fighting back more tears. I had to move, to think of something else. I noted I was still fully dressed from last night. I felt pain surge through my chest as my eye caught my sweat top from the night before and my mind flashed to my last conversation with Eric. I clawed it off me as if it were infected, tears beginning to roll.

Finally freeing myself, I caught sight of myself in the mirror, puffy-eyed and drawn. I willed myself to pull it together. My heart was broken, yes, but I was a Stackhouse and I wouldn't let it beat me.

With a heavy sigh, I chucked on my tatty Bon Temps High t-shirt, feeling comfort from its familiarity. I brushed my teeth, splashed some cold water on my face and made my way downstairs for breakfast.

Alcide was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee.

"Mornin' Sookie," he beamed at me.

"Hey Alcide. You came back?" I smiled at him as I fetched myself a cup of coffee and topped up his. It was nice to see a friendly face and I could tell by his mind that he was really worried about me after my high drama performance last night.

"Yeah, your grandmother let me in. She's gone to church but she left breakfast." He pointed to the oven. "Just so you know, I gave her a very limited account of what happened last night. I figured it would be all over the news and didn't want her to worry. I said there was trouble at the bar but didn't mention you getting shot - I didn't know if you'd want to tell her. I also didn't mention how upset you were about it all." He frowned. "I guess that was shock..."

I blushed. I couldn't imagine what he must have thought last night. "Thanks Alcide. And thanks for putting up with me last night. I guess I was in shock a bit from the shooting although I've almost totally healed now. I also helped interview the guys who did it, which knocked me for six a bit. It's not easy getting into someone's head when their thoughts are that vile... And, er, I had some other personal stuff going on too. So taken as a whole, last night was pretty up there on my worst nights ever list. And I've had some pretty bad ones this year as you know!" The last bit was meant to be light-hearted but Alcide didn't smile.

"By personal stuff, I take it you mean Eric?" he asked, frown deepening. I didn't really want to get into it so I just nodded briefly and went to the oven to retrieve our breakfast. I could feel rage emanate from him and couldn't look him in the eye.

"Sookie, I said this on the first day I met you and I mean it even more now that I know you, you're too good for them. For him. You're an amazing woman and all these vamps ever seem to do is take from you, leaving you teary-eyed and broken..." He was trying to keep calm, but his voice was getting steadily louder.

He paused, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his unruly mane. "Look, I don't want to further confuse you when you're going through a tough time, but I also don't want us to get into a friends pattern and then regret it, so I'm throwing my hat in the ring."

I looked at him eyes wide, "Alc.." I began but he cut me off.

"Please let me finish or I might not," he said, holding up a hand. "I like you. A lot. Not just want-to-get-in-your-pants kind of like you, which for the record I do, but can-see-myself-settling-down kind of like you. I think we could have something really good together." He paused, seemingly relieved that he'd got it off his chest. My early blush had turned into a deep scarlet but I was also smiling. Who wouldn't be?

"Look," he sighed, "I'm not going to stay for breakfast, I know you've got a lot to think about but I just wanted to get that out there. Whatever you choose to do with that information Sookie, I honestly don't think that Eric is the man to make you happy. Fact that he's a vamp aside, you need someone who's willing to put you first and I just don't think he ever will."

He made to go and I followed him to the front door.

"Take care of yourself," he whispered, voice low, and reached down to kiss me on the forehead hugging me to him. I leaned into his embrace, inhaling Alcide's delicious smell, feeling safe and cared for. We stood there for a long time just holding each other, breaking only when we heard a car making its way down Hummingbird Road.

"I'll see you soon," Alcide smiled and went to get in his truck as the car pulled up beside him.

Alcide pulled away and my attention went to the man getting out of the car. He approached the porch, carrying a big red box.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" he enquired, tone polite. Inside I could hear him sizing me up, wondering what all the fuss was about. I nodded. "I'm Bobby Burnham, Mr Northman's day man."

"What can I do for you Mr Burnham?" I asked, tone neutral.

"Mr Northman asked me to appraise you in relation to tonight's trip to New Orleans." My heart sank. I had forgotten all about that. I felt a mild panic grip my body; I didn't want to go to New Orleans and sure as hell didn't want to see Eric again so soon. "A car will come to collect you at 8pm to take you to the airport."

"You can tell Mr Northman that I'm not going to New Orleans, not now and not with him." My pitch had elevated, I was beginning to sound a little irate.

"Mr Northman anticipated that you might say that. He told me to stress to you that, whatever your personal feelings towards him may be, disobeying her majesty was not an option. It would, I quote, result in swift and brutal punishment for the both of you."

I sighed, resigned. He was a pompous ass but he was right. I didn't want to be on Sophie-Anne's shit list. "Fine," I snapped, exasperated, "I'll be ready for 8."

"One last thing, Miss Stackhouse..." He smiled at me smugly and I shot him a look, not even trying to be polite anymore. "This is for you. Compliments of Fangtasia." He handed me the box.

After some clipped good-byes, Bobby left and I carried the box into the kitchen, laying it down on the table. I already knew what it was but couldn't stop myself from opening it to confirm.

My dress from last night, or at least an exact copy of it, was folded luxuriously in black tissue paper. Even the size was right. I looked at it with wonder for a second and then stuffed the dress back into the box. Rage welling up inside me, I threw the box down by the trash can and stormed out of the kitchen, indignantly.

I paced around the living room, fingers pressing into my temples, fuming. I was in an impossible situation, having to spend the evening with the man who had so abruptly broken my heart. I was angry and I was bitter and feeling incredibly sorry for myself. Did he think that he could buy me off? This one gesture and all would be forgiven? I sighed, stalking back to the kitchen to retrieve the box.

I hated Eric for how he had made me feel but I really did love that dress.

0-0-0-0-0

When it was time for me to start getting ready for New Orleans, I made my way to my closet. What the hell was I going to wear? My mind was vacillating from dressing down, making no effort whatsoever, to glamming up to show Eric what he was missing. In the end, I decided it would make me feel better if I looked good, settling on a white strapless summer dress with a red flower pattern. It was one of my favourites, pretty and feminine and made my boobs look great. I straightened my hair, sweeping it back in a white Alice band, and kept the make-up simple. I did a twirl in front of the mirror, feeling better than I had all day.

At 8pm there was a knock on the door and I opened it, surprised to see Pam on the other side. I looked behind her to see the minivan parked in my drive.

"Hi Pam," I said, noting that she was back in pastels tonight, "I didn't realise that you would be the driver tonight."

She smiled. I think it was her friendly smile but frankly it was hard to tell. "I wasn't. Bobby had ordered a town car to collect you. However, I decided to give the driver a night off..."

"Okay," I replied, hesitatingly, "Did you want to come in? I have some bottled blood." I immediately regretted mentioning it, knowing that she would know that I had bought them in case Eric ever came to visit.

"You would invite me into your home?" She seemed genuinely surprised.

"Of course Pam," I smiled. "Just because things with Eric have fallen apart, doesn't stop you being my friend. I haven't got so many friends that I can afford to throw them away willy-nilly, have you?"

She looked at me, as if trying to discern an ulterior motive, and then smiled, warmer this time. "No I have not. Thank you for your offer of hospitality but we must be leaving if we are to make the airfield in time."

I nodded and went to grab my purse and a wrap, shouting to Gran that I would see her later. We got into the minivan and Pam pulled away with a screech, peddle to the metal as soon as we reached Hummingbird Lane. I noticed Pam hadn't put her seatbelt on. Presumably, she could survive a head-on collision at full speed. I couldn't.

"You smell of Were again," she said, suspiciously. "Eric will not be pleased."

"To be honest, I couldn't really care less what he thinks," I snapped. Damn vampires and their super senses.

"Oh, I think we both know that's a big lie…" she drawled.

I sighed, irritated. "So let's cut to the chase Pam. Why are you here? Did Eric send you because if he did..."

She cut me off. "Eric does not know that I am here... I feel that there are things that you should know but I am also aware that it would not please my master for me to tell you these things." She frowned.

"Oh." I didn't know what to say about that. I kept quiet waiting for her to continue.

Pam seemed to decide on something and then began. "Eric is my maker, as you know, and of course he and I have shared blood many times over the course of our association. As such, we also have a blood bond of sorts, although it works in a slightly different way to yours. I am privy to Eric's feelings and emotions, as he is to mine. Generally we work hard to keep that part of our bond under control, to give the other privacy... In time, I'm sure you will learn to do the same."

I nodded encouragingly, wanting her to continue. This was by far the most open Pam had ever been with me. I was captivated.

"Things get through the bond of course, particularly strong emotions. Since Eric met you, this has been happening more and more often... When you were shot, I felt such overwhelming anguish from him. It was as if it were my own. He was so worried that you would not survive and I know he blamed himself. These are not the feelings of a man who does not care. These are the feelings of a man who cares too much."

"But at the warehouse Pam. He dismissed me so easily. I felt nothing from him." My voice was low and I could feel my bottom lip quivering.

"He had been distraught that you had been shot. But then to realise that we'd been the cause. We'd made use of your telepathy, appointed you as shadow owner of the business, for our own betterment and you might have died because of it. You were a target and it was because of us. Oh, we'll deal with Cranson and his ilk," she smiled menacingly at that thought, "but there will be others and they will continue to target vampires and those who associate with them. Eric and I are immortal…"

"Try telling that to Andre," I half-joked.

She frowned. "Yes, Andre's death shows that even we are not completely invulnerable. You, however, are very human, easily breakable. Eric was trying to protect you, to do the right thing. You must see that?"

"No I don't see that Pam, I'm sorry." I tried to keep calm but I could hear the emotion in my voice. "I see someone who ruthlessly dumped me, hours after he bonded and had sex with me. Job done, Queen's orders followed. Presumably now he's got what he needed, he can move on to the next fangbanger stupid enough to fall for it."

"Sookie." Pam's voice was suddenly hard and she turned her head to face me. I wasn't sure if I was more terrified of the fact that she wasn't watching the road, or the fact that now she was watching me. "Eric hasn't had sex with anyone, or even fed from anyone, since you slept together the first time. He wanted to after you rejected him, as he perceived it, but he didn't go through with it. This is highly unusual behaviour for any vampire, especially one such as Eric. I think he knows that you would not approve if he did…" She frowned as if confused. "But, more than that, I think he genuinely doesn't want anyone but you."

I looked at her mouth agape. That couldn't be right, could it?

"Eric is my maker, my master and has my total loyalty. But more than that, my fortunes and those of Clancy, Felicia and all the other vampires of Area 5 are inextricably tied to his. One of the reasons Eric is such a popular master is because of his innate ability to protect himself and those under his control. You are... a distraction from that. Eric takes risks, makes decisions, which he wouldn't normally take because of his infatuation with you..."

"So I don't understand," I replied confusedly. "Why try to convince me that he cares about me? Isn't it better for all involved if we are _not_ together?"

She shrugged. "If your relationship settles, I have no doubt that Eric will regain control of himself. Find a balance. Sookie, I genuinely want to see my master happy but, more than that, the consequences of his not being so are... highly unpleasant, for all involved." I remembered her awkward hug at the bar weeks ago now and smiled. I could well imagine.

"I will say no more on this Sookie, except that you have the blood bond now. He can lie to you with words but what you feel through the bond? That will always be the truth."

After a few minutes of thoughtful silence, we filled the rest of the journey with girly chit-chat. Pam loved my dress and suggested that Eric would too. Apparently, the flowers looked like little splodges of blood (and, by all accounts, that was a good thing.) She really did have a mean sense of humour, especially for vampire. At my insistence, she also told me a little about her life before she was turned. It sounded fascinating, like a period novel, but Pam didn't seem to miss it at all. She, just like her maker, truly embraced what she was and I respected her for that.

We arrived at the airport. Eric was there already, leaning up against his car in black suit, typing something into his blackberry. He looked relaxed, like a giant cat basking in the sun. He raised an eyebrow at Pam as she rolled down her window.

"Driver cancelled," she lied smoothly. He nodded, seemingly buying it. "Well, have fun in the Big Easy," she drawled, looking at me pointedly as I got out of her car. Then she sped off into the night, leaving me alone in the darkness with Eric.

"Thank you for coming," Eric said softly, not looking me in the eye.

"Bobby didn't give me much choice," I muttered grimly. He looked at me then and smiled at that. Eyes tender, as if seeing into me.

"Right, let's get this show on the road shall we," I said nervously, breaking the look. "The quicker we get to New Orleans, the sooner we get to come home."

0—0—0—0—0

Eric and I said little on the flight. I was nervous again, going on the plane, but this time Eric didn't try to touch me or comfort me. I tried a couple of times to feel him through the bond, but he had somehow managed to suppress it.

A car was there to meet us at the other end. I gasped with horror as we pulled up to the palace, surveying the damage that had been done. Almost all of the left side of the building was in ruins, fire damage ravaging the beautiful building. Everything else looked blackened, scorched with fire or sodden with water damage. I could feel anger well up inside me at the sight and I knew that not all of it was my own.

We were led through the house by a young male vampire I didn't recognise and taken to staircase that descended to a level of the house which was below ground. I looked at Eric, who gave me a reassuring smile, but somehow I didn't think that this was a good sign. The basement area seemed to run under the whole palace and, from what I could see, had been spared any fire damage. We approached a large oak door and the vampire knocked, I heard Sophie-Anne's voice tinkle on the other side of the door, bidding us to come in.

I looked at her and gasped, filled with horror as I took her in. She was as petite and elegant as ever, in a beautiful red vintage silk gown that swished around her vertiginous heels as she walked. Her hair was curled in a way that was reminiscent of a young Rita Heyworth or someone of that era. She looked to have full make-up on to finish the look but her cheeks were stained red, blood red tears streaking down her beautiful face. I noticed then that she was badly burned down one side, the skin on her left arm and across her chest melted and cracked. Her left hand appeared to be tender, raw red flesh blazing through the charred skin. She looked so macabre, like a china doll that had been tossed on a bonfire.

"You should have seen me yesterday," she said wryly. "By tomorrow, I should be back to normal. I was quite near the main blast but my darling Andre sheltered me from the brunt of it, sacrificing his life for mine."

Eric offered his condolences on our behalf, tone impassive. I just nodded. What was there to say?

"Yes, well, Andre is gone but those responsible, they are still here. For the meantime anyway," she smiled at that and it was chilling. "Come, come, let us go see our first guest."

She led us through the basement to what seemed to be a row of cells. I noted for the first time that the troll twins were not with her. It seemed strange after the recent attack. Maybe they had been injured too? I wasn't about to ask.

She typed in a code next to one of the cells, no wrought iron bolts for modern vampires it seemed, and the door slid open. I stepped in, shaking and hesitant, scared of what I would see on the other side.

A woman was chained up against the wall. I looked to Eric in a fluster and could feel him trying to send reassurance and calm through the bond. She looked to be about the same age as me, slim, with brown hair cut in a blunt bob. I guessed that she was probably quite pretty under normal circumstances but she had clearly been worked over by some of Sophie-Anne's goons as her face was swollen and covered with bruises. She was an exceptionally loud broadcaster and I knew she was in pain and full of fear. She looked at the Queen as she entered and immediately wondered if this was the moment she was going to die. I felt my eyes welling up just looking at her but stopped myself, I couldn't help her if I lost my cool.

The Queen gestured to the girl and trilled, "This one's a witch. We used her to put up wards around the palace; we were supposed to be protected. Clearly she's either incompetent or in on it all. I'd like to know which it is so I can plan her punishment accordingly."

"I didn't do anything," the girl pleaded, speech heavy from her swollen lip but clear enough. "The wards stayed true but they were there to keep hostile people out. I can't do anything about those people hurling petrol bombs onto the premises, I'm not that powerful."

"She's telling the truth," I said, confidently. She was but I may have said it even if she had been in on it. I had no doubt what her fate would have been otherwise.

"You are sure?" the Queen asked, suspiciously.

"Quite sure," I nodded. "She's a very loud broadcaster."

"Fine." She seemed disappointed. She turned to Eric gesturing at the girl. "Eric, kill her please."

"No!" I shouted, impulsively. The Queen whipped her head around to me, cruel glint in her eye. Eric's mask of calm had been replaced by shock.

"Sookie…" he said, voice low in warning, his eyes begging me to be quiet.

"You can't kill her, she hasn't done anything wrong," I pleaded softly.

"My dear, if she's not a good enough witch to protect us from all eventualities, then she is no use to me. Believe me, if she had been involved, her fate would have been much more… drawn out."

"If you hurt her, I will refuse to work for you again," I whispered, voice tight. Jesus Christ what was I saying?

She just laughed callously. "You really are quite amusing my dear."

"I mean it," I asserted, jutting my chin out like a stubborn school girl.

Quick as a flash she was on me, holding me up against the wall by my throat. I wheezed, struggling for breath, while I felt the pressure increase on my windpipe. "You will do as I say, when I say, or I will snap you like a twig…" She lifted me up, hand still round my neck, and I began to see spots before my eyes. I was going to lose consciousness.

Suddenly she jerked back and I felt myself slump to the floor as I gasped greedily for air. Eric had her up against the wall in the same position as she had had me, her tiny feet dangling at least a foot off the ground. She didn't need to breathe of course, so it wasn't haven't quite the same effect on her and it had me. I felt, rather than heard, her heartless laugh fill the room as the hairs on my arms stood to attention. She made no effort to struggle.

"My, my, Eric, this is unexpected. Risking your life and your position for a human woman. She must be quite the delicious morsel. I'll have to have a taste myself now…" I could feel Eric's wrath surge through him as he increased his grip on Sophie-Anne, slamming her aggressively against the opposite wall. She laughed again, sexily this time as if it were foreplay to her.

"You don't want to share Eric? Don't tell me you've fallen for her," she taunted. He looked at her unswervingly and she laughed again. "Well, well, the great Eric Northman in love. How deliciously pathetic."

I ran to the girl and went to unchain her. She collapsed in my arms and I hugged her close.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."

"We're not out of here yet," I replied grimly, looking over to Eric and the Queen. "I'm Sookie Stackhouse, by the way."

"It's a real pleasure to meet you Sookie. I'm Amelia, Amelia Broadway."

Eric had lowered the Queen to the ground and forced her to her knees on the cold stone floor. "We are going to return to Area 5. You will not seek retribution for this from me. And Sookie will go on to live a very full and happy life. If she should meet with an unfortunate accident, if she should even get struck by lightening, I will be looking to you to find out why. Never forget that you are queen of this state because I do not want to be king. That can all change Sophie-Anne, that can all change…" Eric was in full vampire mode and, despite the traumatic circumstances, he'd never looked hotter. I could tell by Amelia's thoughts that she was in complete agreement. "Give me your word Sophie-Anne and you will have my continued fealty."

Her word? Surely her word meant less than nothing but I guess it was all we had for now.

She nodded. "You have my word," she whispered, smiling eerily.

With one swift move, Eric snapped the Queen's neck and she slumped into a heap on the floor. He looked at me, "Come, we do not have much time."

"Eric, you killed her?" I asked surprised. I didn't care but it was still quite a shock.

"No, she will recover," he said dourly, "but she will be incapacitated enough for us to get out of New Orleans. Killing the Queen would not be a good idea and she's a pragmatic woman, she'll come around, once she has calmed down. She needs us both."

'Pragmatic' wasn't really the word I'd use, 'psychopathic' maybe but I'd trust Eric's judgment on this. He scooped up Amelia, who groaned painfully at the contact, but then nestled into his chest with a leer. I smiled; any girl who could think sexy thoughts mere minutes after she was supposed to be killed was a trooper in my book. I knew I was going to like her.

We rushed to the airfield, taking Amelia with us. She needed to leave New Orleans for a while, so I offered to let her stay with me.

We boarded the plane and I felt relief as I we took off, heading for home. Eric had laid Amelia across a couple of seats at the back and she had immediately fallen asleep.

He sat in one of the large seats next to mine and I touched his arm, gently.

"Thank you Eric," I whispered.

He smiled, reaching across and drawing me into his lap. I felt it then, he let his walls down and all his feelings came rushing through the bond. Concern, relief, lust and love. Above all, love.

Silent tears started to fall down my cheek as he pulled me closer to his chest. "Sookie, I'm so…" I leaned back and put a finger to his lips shushing him.

"Don't Eric," I said, as I tried to push my feelings to him through the bond, so that he would know he wasn't alone.

He smiled and held me tighter, kissing the top of my head. We stayed like that for the whole flight, Eric stroking my hair as I nuzzled into his chest, never wanting to move.

We arrived back in Shreveport, some time after midnight, making our way out of the plane, towards Eric's car. He chucked me his keys, which I caught one-handed, the other arm being used to prop Amelia up. "You take Amelia home, I will make my own way there." Of course, Eric's car only had two seats.

As we approached the Corvette, Eric tensed. I immediately felt alarm through the bond. If Eric was panicking, that was not a good sign.

"Eric," I said looking up at him questioningly, "what's wrong?"

He made his way to the car and picked up a small envelope. I realised with horror that one corner of the envelope was pooled with blood. He opened the envelope slowly, shaking the contents onto his palm.

Two teeth, fangs to be precise. They had been removed by the root.

I looked at him with dread, waiting for him to confirm my suspicions.

"Pam," he said quietly. "A message from the Queen."

**A/N: So please review, review, review. I'd love to hear your thoughts….**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I just want to say a massive thank you to all of you who read this story and support it by leaving me reviews and adding me to your alerts. It really makes it all worth while. Also I seem to have got lots of new readers over the last week or so, so welcome to you guys!**

**I'm glad you all liked the twist in the last chapter – it's always interesting to hear your take on everything. So without further ado...**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

I looked at the small white fangs in Eric's hand and tears fell silently down my cheek as his pain and anguish flowed through the bond and mingled with my own.

This was my fault. The Queen had punished Pam, all because Eric had chosen to help me. And she had opted for a way to do it which would hurt Pam the most, by taking away the thing that made her a vampire. It was cruel to the highest extreme.

I knew then that Eric had made the ultimate mistake in letting Sophie-Anne live. He thought she would continue to play the game the way she had always done but the burnt and blood-stained apparition who had tried to kill me tonight was not the pragmatic monarch he knew and served. She was a woman deranged with grief, unpredictable and capable of anything.

I walked Amelia over to the car and helped her into the passenger seat. I could see that Eric was deep in thought, so I gave him a second to process things, while I gave Gran a call. I needed to tell her about Amelia coming to stay but the paranoid part of me also wanted to check that Sophie-Anne had not taken action against my family as well as Eric's. I exhaled deeply as she answered the phone half asleep, fresh tears of relief welling up inside me.

Eric came over as I hung up. "Your grandmother is safe?"

I nodded. "I told her not to answer the door to anyone...How did all this happen so fast Eric?" I asked, incredulous. We hadn't left New Orleans that long ago and the Queen had been incapacitated.

"The Berts," Eric said sourly. "You noticed that they weren't by her side tonight?"

"Yes," I admitted, "and I thought it was strange but I didn't..." The words faltered in my throat.

"Sophie-Anne anticipated that you might refuse to assist her. But more than that she knew that if you did, I would support you." His tone of voice told me that, despite everything, he still had respect for Sophie-Anne as a strategist. He frowned and looked around as if putting things together. "Pam was not de-fanged here, I would be able to smell the blood. They took her first and then, presumably when they got the call from Sophie-Anne, they commenced..." I shivered. I didn't want to imagine what was happening to Pam while we worked this out.

He paused, frown deepening. "That tells me two things... the good news is that they haven't been working on Pam for very long."

"And the bad?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"The bad news is that I have a spy in my camp."

I looked at him aghast. "A spy? But who? How can you be sure?"

"It could be anyone," his voice was tight, almost a whisper. I could feel his sense of betrayal creep through the bond. "It was a fair assumption that you might not condone the killing and torture of those the Queen had captured. But to anticipate that I would take your side, that I would take the risk, it would have to be someone close to me. Someone who has been around me in recent months, seen that I have not been... entertaining others." I looked at him and blushed. "Someone who saw how distressed I was when you were shot..."

"Someone who works at Fangtasia," I finished. He nodded, face hard.

My thoughts immediately flashed to Clancy. I was pretty sure he hated me but, other than that, I didn't really have any proof. So I kept my mouth shut.

"So what now?" I whispered.

"We need to find Pam quickly. She is strong but Sigebert and Wybert... they are brutal... I should be able to track her through our bond. The issue is what to do when I find her." I went to him and put my arms around his waist pulling him to me. He ran his hands over my shoulders and rested his chin on my head with a sigh. "If there is a spy in the camp, that means I can't rely on any of my people until we discover who it is. Sigebert and Wybert are both fearsome fighters and almost as old as me. They will be expecting us and I'm not sure I can fight them both and get Pam out too. She'll no doubt be weak, she won't be able to fight..."

I looked up at him. I wanted to take his uncertainty and his anxiety and kiss it away. "Eric, I can help. I can get Pam out while you fight."

"No, Sookie it is too dangerous..." he begun.

"Eric, stop. You've got to stop trying to wrap me up in cotton wool. You've already pushed me away once. We're a team. We're in this together." My voice was determined, I knew Eric could feel my resolution.

"Sookie, if we just had one more fighter, someone that could help defend you if it came to it but we do not... I cannot concentrate on saving Pam if there is a risk of losing you..."

"Alcide," I said immediately. "Alcide will help us." The minute I said it, I knew it was true. But I also knew that I would be asking too much of him, taking advantage. I closed my eyes and thought of Pam being tortured, thought of losing Eric and knew that I would do it anyway. I would take the risk.

"And you also have me," a voice came from behind us. I turned around to see that Amelia had pulled herself out of the car and was staring at us with resolve.

"Amelia, no, you're too weak. You can barely walk for God's sake," I said, horror evident in my voice. I looked to Eric to back me up.

"We could use her skills..." Eric suggested, dispassionately.

"Oh now you're back to being pragmatic," I glared at him, gesticulating wildly. "Look at her Eric. She's severely injured."

"I can heal her," he shrugged.

"You would do that?" I asked, shocked. I was fairly sure Eric didn't go handing his blood out like band aids.

"We need every advantage we can find to help Pam," he frowned.

"Amelia," I turned to the witch, "would you take Eric's blood to heal?"

"You guys saved my life and this Pam chick paid the price. Of course I'll do what I can to help," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Thank you," I smiled, making my way towards her to give her a supportive hug.

"Okay," Eric interrupted, full speed ahead. "We need to get to my house. I need weapons. We will give Amelia my blood there and you will phone the wolf."

0-0-0-0-0

Following Eric's directions, I pulled up into a small gated cul-de-sac. The houses were large, modern, typical suburban Shreveport properties. I'm not sure what I was expecting Eric's house to look like but this certainly wasn't it. Eric had arrived before us and had presumably gone inside to start gathering weapons. The garage door was open, coaxing us in and I parked up next to a large black SUV.

I helped Amelia out of the car and we walked through the internal garage door which came out into a large kitchen area. It was state-of-the-art with every kitchen appliance you would ever need and then some. For some reason the thought of Eric having a waffle iron made me smile. The downstairs of the house was fairly open plan and the kitchen flowed through into a large living room. I eased Amelia down onto the large leather couch and went back to the kitchen to phone Alcide.

My hands shook as I dialled the number. Alcide picked up after two rings.

"Hello?" His voice was gravelly but alert. I didn't think I had woken him up.

"Hey Alcide," I replied tentatively. "It's Sookie."

"Hey Sookie, it's great to hear from you." He sounded so happy to hear my voice. I could almost feel him beaming at the other end of the phone and I found myself cringing internally. "So to what do I owe this pleasure at this late hour?"

My stomach churned and I took a breath. "I need a favour Alcide... You're not going to like it. I wouldn't be asking but you're the only one we can trust..."

The smile went out of his voice then. "We?"

"Yes," I replied meekly. "Eric and I."

He stayed silent so I continued, words rushing out in a confused garble. "Pam has been taken by two of the Queen's guards. They're torturing her Alcide and God only knows what else. They pulled her fangs out and left them on Eric's wind shield. And there's probably a traitor at Fangtasia... We don't know who we can trust." My voice began to crack. "It's all my fault, I refused to let the Queen kill someone, so they took Pam. It's all my fault."

"Sookie," he soothed, full of kindness. "Sookie, it'll be okay. I'll help you. Of course I'll help."

"Thank you," I whispered and then told him to meet us at a nearby gas station in twenty minutes. I wasn't sure if Eric would like him knowing where he lived, so I didn't go there.

I hung up the phone, feeling guilty, and wiped a tear from my eye with the back of my hand. I turned around to see Eric propped up against the kitchen work-top watching me intensely.

"He's coming," I said simply and he nodded, face blank.

He opened one of the cupboards and took out a black Fangtasia mug. I looked at him puzzled and he smiled as he reached for one of the cooking knives that sat in a block on the kitchen counter. In a swift motion, he sliced through his wrist. I shrieked with surprise and then giggled at my own reaction as realisation hit me. He held his wrist over the mug and the thick blood oozed into it before the wound closed up like new.

"For Amelia? In a cup?" I questioned, eyebrow raised.

He nodded, smiling, knowing what I meant. "Only you are allowed to take it directly from source."

I thought of Eric's reaction every time I had fed from him. I felt my breathing go shallow and my face blaze as I concluded that it was probably for the best that Amelia got a mug. Eric smirked at me, knowingly, and I hit him playfully on the arm.

He laughed at that and, arm round my shoulder, pulled me into the living room.

Amelia eyed the mug as we entered. "Is that it?" she asked.

Inside she was thinking it was a good thing that it was in a black mug rather than a glass. It would be easier and "not as gross" if she didn't see it. I smiled, knowing Eric had done that deliberately.

Eric nodded and handed her the mug.

"Cheers," she toasted us and downed it in one.

Amelia blinked a couple of times as if assessing the blood's effect. Her face began to look better almost immediately.

"Holy shit," she gaped, stretching out her arms and legs as if checking if they still worked.

"I know, " I nodded with a smile.

I turned to Eric. "What about you?"

He looked at me, puzzled.

"When was the last time you fed?"

"I will have a True Blood..." he said nonchalantly.

"Eric, don't be ridiculous. You haven't fed today and you've just given Amelia blood. You said yourself that the Berts are as old as you. You need to be at full strength and you know it."

He looked me, eyes never wavering for a second. I tried not to blink. And then he nodded, passively.

"Amelia," I said, softly. "Would you give us a second?"

"Sure," she smiled. I could tell from her deafening thoughts that she really wanted to watch what was about to happen but she did as I asked anyway. Taking blood was a very personal thing for me and had always been very sexual when Eric had done it. I really didn't want an audience.

"I need to find the bathroom anyway," she muttered.

Eric pointed her in the right direction and then sat down on the couch, indicating that I should sit on his lap. I climbed on facing him, knees on the couch, legs straddling his thighs.

"Sookie," he said, his cool breath close enough for me to taste it. "We don't really have enough time to make this pleasurable for you. It will hurt..."

"Just bite Eric," I replied, tilting my neck, voice calmer than I felt inside. "You need to be strong."

Without hesitation, he ran a thumb over my neck and then bit down. I yelped at the pain, tensing up as he drew deep. I could feel Eric hardening underneath me but this wasn't like it had been in the past, all I felt was the sharp sting followed by a dull painful ache. Momentarily he finished, licking the wound so that it would heal.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, eyes low, trying not to look at me.

I moved my hands to either side of his face, moving him to look at me, make eye contact. "Don't," I said firmly. "There will be plenty of time for orgasms and all things pleasurable, when we get Pam back. Right now we need to be practical."

He nodded and kissed me gently on my nose. I turned my neck to see Amelia practically skipping back into the room. She looked pretty much healed. Amazing.

"Right," I said, adrenaline suddenly pumping. "Let's get this show on the road."

0-0-0-0-0

We left the house in Eric's SUV and pulled up at the gas station where Alcide had agreed to meet us. He was already there and dressed in tatty jeans and a sweat top.

"In case I need to change," he said, motioning to himself as he got in the car, clearly in response to my reaction to his unusual attire.

I nodded, trying to look nonchalant at the thought of him turning into an animal before my eyes, and thanked him for coming. I introduced him to Amelia and had to stifle a smile as she immediately began to flirt with him on the back seat.

Eric and Amelia had already agreed that she could find Pam faster than he could track her. So we pulled up by a picnic area to the side of the highway and Eric, instructed by Amelia, laid a map of Shreveport over the hood of the car. Amelia had already requested something of Pam's and she gently placed Pam's fangs in the centre of the map. I shivered as I saw them there, a stark reminder of what had happened to Pam and what was probably happening still.

We all took a step back as Amelia closed her eyes and began chanting low, under her breath. I couldn't make out the words but I was pretty sure it wasn't English. After a minute or so, tiny sparks appeared towards the left hand corner of the map. We watched as the sparks turned into a small blue flame and then went out, leaving a small hole, the size of a cigarette burn.

"There," she pointed triumphantly. "The warehouse district towards the North of the city. They're holding her there."

Eric nodded appreciatively at Amelia as we all got back into the SUV. Alcide looked at Amelia as if he wasn't sure whether to be scared or impressed. After a second he opted for impressed and gave her a big smile. "That was really cool," he beamed.

"Thanks," she said proudly, glad to be useful.

It took us twenty minutes to get to the warehouse district. The entire area was desolate and poorly lit, resonating with an eerie silence. We headed in the direction of the cigarette burn and I realised Eric could feel Pam strongly now. His lips were pressed together, stifling his rage into a thin grimace, and I knew he could sense her pain. I wanted to touch him, to soothe him, but I could tell he was focussing on the up-coming conflict. I could feel his blood lust through the bond, his excitement at the prospect of a battle, and I left him to focus on it. He didn't need a distraction now.

Eric parked up the SUV a short walk away from where they were holding Pam and we made the rest of journey on foot. I tried to be stealthy; after having Eric's blood so many times, my night vision had improved and I was certainly more sure-footed than before but I could hear my pulse drumming thunderously in my ears. Surely everyone else could hear me too?

Eric was carrying a huge broad sword in one hand and had a large dagger attached by a belt to his waist. He had also given Alcide a sword but Alcide looked uncomfortable with it and I was sure, if it came to it, he'd prefer to fight in wolf form.

Amelia didn't have a weapon but I had made Eric give me a small stake which, not having a pocket, I had stuffed into the cleavage of my dress. My instructions were simply to get Pam out. Eric guessed that Pam would probably be bound in silver, so Alcide wouldn't be able to help me free her but his job was to protect me while I did. Eric would take on the Berts and anyone else in the warehouse. I was scared for him but tried to dampen it down so he wouldn't feel it.

We were soon close enough to see the entrance of the warehouse. Two huge men with two way radios stood outside the double doors, as if acting as sentries. I used my mind to reach out and feel how many we were up against. Three voids inside, presumably the troll twins and Pam. I could tell from their minds, the two standing guard were Weres or shifters.

I signalled the number 2 and pointed to Eric, indicating that two vampires were inside. I pointed to the guards and again signalled the number 2, this time pointing to Alcide. Everyone nodded, understanding me.

Eric went to move forward but Amelia held him back, holding up her hand up to get him to wait. She began to whisper something under her breath. Suddenly one of the guards began to double over dropping his radio, clutching his stomach as if in pain. The other went to help him. He crouched down, placing the radio on the floor, putting one hand on the other guard's back and one on his arm, trying to prop him up. Eric took advantage of the distraction, seizing the moment and swooping down on them in a movement so swift, I hardly saw it. Within seconds, both men were decapitated, their bloodied bodies lying one on top of the other in a heap on the floor.

Eric hadn't made a sound.

He signalled to us to follow him and Alcide and I quickly ran over to him, while Amelia stayed to keep watch outside. He nodded at us both, face splattered with Were blood and eased open the door to the warehouse, bloody sword wielded high above his head.

The next few minutes happened as if in slow motion. Eric had nearly made it to Wyebert, or was it Sigebert, before the vampire knew he was upon him. He managed to block Eric's first blow with his right arm, but lost the arm in a clean stroke, before Eric swung his sword around again and cleaved Wyebert's head from him shoulders in one swift motion. Sigebert had found a weapon in the intervening seconds and charged at Eric, crying out in a blood-curdling scream that was full of rage and grief.

I saw Pam then laid out on a table on the far side of the room. As I approached her, Alcide at my back, I noticed she was in her underwear and it looked untouched. I let out a sigh of relief and my eyes filled with tears as something at the back of my mind acknowledged that this probably meant she hadn't been raped.

That was where the good news ended.

She was covered in silver chain, her skin flaking and burnt everywhere it had made contact with her skin. They had rammed small wooden stakes into various parts of her body, and looking at the six or so near her heart, I could only imagine that she had thought she would finally die each time. She had blood all down her chin, where they had removed her fangs, and I noticed with a distressed cry that they had also forced a silver ball into her mouth so that her lips and tongue were burnt and blistered.

She moaned at me in pain as I gently removed the ball from her mouth, pulled out the stakes and began to strip away the silver chain, as quickly as I could, pulling away clumps of her skin as I went.

Hot angry tears ran down my face and, as I saw blood red tears fall from Pam, mirroring mine, I vowed that we would kill Sophie-Anne whatever the cost.

Alcide lifted Pam gently off the table and she murmured something weakly, as he began to carry her outside. I glanced over at Eric as I made my way to the door. He and Sigebert were still going at it in a violent dance of swords. Eric had a bloody gash spanning his chest and Sigebert appeared to be limping, Eric's dagger sticking out of his thigh.

I noticed then that Sigebert's sword was tipped in silver. A jolt of panic ran through me abruptly, as I suddenly contemplated the fact that Eric could lose. Eric looked over at me, momentarily distracted by my fear, and with a fleeting blow Sigebert ran the sword through his stomach. I screamed as Eric slumped to the ground.

Sigebert spun round to look at me, pushing his sword with a grunt, plunging it further into Eric's torso. Eyes narrowing with hatred, he released the sword and his hulking form advanced towards me in a blur. I felt terror well up inside me and turned to run. But before I knew it, Sigebert had grabbed me by the hair and hurled me against the the wall as if I weighed no more than a leaf. I screamed as a burning pain engorged my entire left side. I tried to move but was pretty sure my ankle and maybe a few ribs were broken from the impact.

Sigebert glided towards me again. I lifted my right arm up to defend myself as he went to grab me for a second time, pulling me up by the throat. Just at that moment Alcide came hurtling through the warehouse. He had shifted and lunged at the vampire in wolf form, teeth bared into a vicious snarl. Sigebert crouched to brace himself against Alcide's attack and caught him mid-leap, as Alcide's claws scraped his face and arms. Sigebert used Alcide's momentum against him, throwing him through the table that Pam had chained to. Alcide yelped with pain as he went crashing down. I watched with horror as he lay, unmoving, on the warehouse floor amidst the silver chain and debris.

Sigebert turned his attention back to me, fangs bared, and in a blur he was on me, fangs sinking into my neck as I struggled against him and screamed out in agony. Things started to get cloudy as he literally began to drain the life from me. My instincts told me I only had seconds to turn things around as, vision darkening, I grappled for the stake in my dress and plunged it into his chest with all my remaining strength.

Sigebert pulled away from my neck looking down at the stake. He smiled at me as I felt myself shudder, suddenly chilled to the bone.

"Missed," he grinned, accent thick, and pulled the stake slowly from his chest, examining it as if curious.

I smiled at him serenely, all pain turning numb, as I looked up and saw Eric bring his sword crashing down on Sigebert's head, cleaving his skull in two. He removed the sword for a second sweep. With a fluid stroke, Eric detached Sigebert's head cleanly, as his body slumped forward spraying blood over me and the surrounding area.

I didn't have it in me to scream. I sat there heaving, pooled in blood, until Eric dropped his sword, and scooped me up into his arms.

Eric carried me outside to the SUV where Pam was laying on the back seat, head in Amelia's lap. Amelia was stroking Pam's hair, soothing her. There were four True Blood bottles discarded behind the back seat and I could see from a make-shift bandage around Amelia's wrist that she had also given Pam some of her own blood. Pam smiled at me weakly. She already looked better but I knew her physical wounds wouldn't be the problem. Eric placed me gently on the front seat and I winced at the contact. He went to bite onto his wrist but I stopped him.

"Alcide," I said. "You have to get Alcide."

He nodded, stalking back to the warehouse. He emerged minutes later propping up a very human and very battered Alcide, naked as a jaybird. Eric helped Alcide into the back, next to Pam's feet, and reaching into the trunk threw him a blanket to cover up.

Eric gave me some of his blood but I would only take a little, he was too injured after all although he assured me he was nearly healed. It took the pain away from my ankle and ribs though and I was instantly able to move more freely. Finally he got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"So what now Eric?" Amelia asked from behind the driver's seat.

I looked at him, with resolve, already anticipating his answer.

He paused, looking directly at me, and replied. "Now we kill the Queen."

**A/N: Please review- action chapters are always quite hard going so I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts...**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: You guys are amazing – thank you so much for all your lovely reviews. They really do mean a lot to me and it's always great to hear your thoughts. Please keep it up! **

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

Alcide assured us that he was fine to drive, so Eric pulled up at the gas station where he had parked his car. As he slipped out of Eric's SUV, blanket tied around his waist, Pam grabbed his hand, thanking him, her voice as genuine as I'd ever heard it. Alcide smiled at her and gave her hand a light squeeze before shutting the car door.

I gently put a hand on Eric's arm and he nodded at me, understanding what I needed to do. I got out of the car and followed Alcide over to his, stretching my bruised limbs as I went. He'd found some clothes in the trunk of his car and put on some track pants under the blanket. He was slipping on a black t-shirt as I approached.

He turned slowly to face me and gave me a crooked half-smile.

"Sookie," he began with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. He looked tired. Well, we all were.

I put my hand up to stop him from continuing. "Please Alcide, I need to say this."

He nodded and I reached forward and took his hand in mine. "I just want to thank you so much for helping us tonight. You risked your life for Pam, for me, and I want you to know that I will always be grateful..."

"But grateful is not enough..." he interrupted. His voice was weary, resigned, but his eyes were still kind.

"I love him Alcide," I said quietly. "I think you're an amazing guy, amazing, and I have no idea what the future holds for Eric and I, but I know that I love him."

We stood in silence for a few seconds, with me still holding his hand, and then Alcide nodded. "Take care Sookie. I'll see you around okay?"

"Sure," I said. "You take care."

I reached up to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Goodbye Alcide."

I returned to the car and Eric smiled at me as I got in. I looked at him curiously, I had been expecting another reaction...

Ahh. "How much of that did you hear?" I asked coyly.

"Enough, Lover," he smiled. "Enough."

0-0-0-0-0

We dropped Pam off at her house which was a large ranch-style property in the same neighbourhood as Eric's house. Amelia decided that she would stay at Pam's too, ostensibly to be there if Pam needed anything but I knew from her thoughts that she was also trying to give Eric and I some privacy. We agreed that we would meet up tomorrow during the day and do some shopping. Amelia needed brand new everything and looking down at yet another blood-soaked dress, I knew that I could do with a few things myself.

Five minutes later Eric and I were finally at his house.

As we entered Eric's living room, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror over his fireplace and my breath caught in my throat. My dress, previously white, was now a dark dirty brown, covered in dried blood and dirt. My hair was matted and caked in blood. I had huge bruises on the side of my face and down one arm, which, presumably due to Eric's blood, were already starting to yellow. I looked a total mess. I looked over at Eric who was faring slightly better than me but still covered in blood and dirt. He grinned widely, knowing exactly what I was thinking.

"I think we need to clean up," he said, eyebrow raised.

"You think?" I laughed in agreement.

Eric's smile took on a wicked glint and within seconds he had scooped me up over his shoulder and was zooming me, half-yelping, half-laughing, up the stairs. I had the briefest of glimpse of his bedroom, as he removed my shoes and his, chucking them carelessly onto the carpet, before he carried me into his huge bathroom. I may also have taken the opportunity to ogle Eric's perfect ass but, hey, who wouldn't?

Eric set me on my feet on the cool stone tiles and I looked around me in wonder; his bathroom was huge. There was an immense sunken tub in the middle of the room, double basins and a large walk-in shower towards the back.

"Bath or shower, Lover?" he murmured softly into my ear, cool breath making me shiver.

I bit my lip. Decisions, decisions...

"Um, I think the shower would be better..." I said quietly. I was trying to remain practical but it was difficult. Our bodies were so close, not quite touching, but I could feel something pulse between us as the lust radiated back and forth through the bond. I knew my breathing was suddenly more laboured and I could feel my heart quicken. God, he hadn't even kissed me yet.

Eric smiled and, gently taking my hand, led me over to the shower. I looked up at him then and, when his eyes met mine, his gaze made my stomach flip and I was suddenly nervous with anticipation. Eric ran his thumb along my jawline and I shuddered with want. I grabbed a handful of his shirt in my hand, pulling him closer towards me.

"Eric, kiss me," I pleaded quietly.

In an instant had me pinned up against the shower wall, mouth on mine, kissing me with all he had. I reciprocated, arms clinging around his neck and he lifted me again, this time with my legs straddling his hips as he began to grind against me. He reached along the wall for the shower controls, mouth never leaving me, and I cried out with surprise as rivulets of warm water began to cascade over us from various angles.

After what seemed like an age of breathless kissing and frantic touching, Eric lowered my feet to the ground and began to unzip my now sodden, but slightly less bloody, dress. He let it fall to a heap on the floor and I stepped out of it, kicking it to the far side of the enormous shower. Eric took the moment to pull off what was left of his shirt and kicked it and his pants into the corner to join my dress. I smiled noting that Eric had, once again, gone commando.

He kissed me again, this time rubbing my breasts through the wet lace of my bra. The friction sent electricity pulsing straight to my core and I moaned loudly as he moved his mouth down and began to suck at my tender nipples through the drenched fabric.

Eric stopped for a second to remove my bra and I took the opportunity to grab the shower gel from the shelf. He knelt and began to kiss down my stomach as I massaged shower gel into his broad shoulders. He made his way lower and slowly removed my panties, chucking them casually away from us. I let out a small moan as he lifted my leg and placed it over his shoulder, burying himself between my legs. My head fell back, rapture coursing through my body, as he assaulting me with his tongue in unison with his expert fingers. I was undone in minutes, screaming his name as my orgasm tore through me.

Careful to keep me balanced, Eric released my leg, tenderly kissing the inside of my thigh and my knee as he did so, sending shivers to my core in the aftermath of my release. He stood up to kiss me and I could taste myself on his lips. With a smile, I began edging tiny kisses down his chest, sucking and rolling his nipples between my fingers, mimicking his earlier actions on me.

"Bite a little, Lover," he rasped, letting out a groan as I did as instructed. I made my way down to his erection and looked up at him, licking my lips.

"My turn," I purred, taking his shaft in my hand as I began to swirl my tongue around the head. Eric's groans became more audible as I took as much of him as I could into my mouth, sucking and licking for all I was worth, while my hand worked the rest of him. I used my nails to scrape his balls as he fisted his hands in my wet hair, bucking wantonly into my mouth and moaning my name again and again. Suddenly, I felt him stiffen and, knowing he was close, took him as deep as I could, continuing to pump him as he gushed down my throat.

Eric took a second to come back to earth and then pulled me to my feet, kissing me deeply. "Lover," he sighed contentedly, "that was... incredible."

"I'm glad you liked it," I smirked, beaming with pride at a job well done. "Now, Mr. Northman, I think it's time you and I got ourselves clean... after getting so dirty."

He laughed, grabbing the shower gel and squeezing some onto his palm. "Anything you wish, Ms Stackhouse," he drawled, eyebrow raised.

We managed to get clean, then dirty, then clean again over the course of the next hour or so. As it approached dawn, we climbed into bed, hair still damp and my fingers pruned. Eric, reaching across the huge bed, pulled me to him and I nestled into his embrace.

As exhaustion began to seep through me, I heard him whisper into my ear that he loved me and I fell asleep with a contented smile on my lips.

0-0-0-0-0

I picked Amelia up at two the next day in Eric's SUV. I had made myself a dress out of one of Eric's formal shirts, wrapping one of his belts around my waist. I'd managed to wash and dry my underwear for today's emergency wear but it, like my dress, was basically ruined. Amelia seemed to have faired much better, having borrowed a cute lilac jersey dress from Pam. Eric had initially been against us going out during the day without protection but I managed to convince him that Sophie-Anne was unlikely to come after us during the day, particularly not at the mall.

We had a late lunch and Amelia stopped by the bank and ordered new credit cards to Gran's address, pretending that her bag had been stolen. Eric had given me his Fangtasia credit card to go shopping with. I felt slightly uncomfortable using it, wondering if Gran would think I was acting like a kept woman. But Amelia persuaded me that we needed new things because of vampire business, so it was more like shopping with an expense account than charity. After a while I relaxed, enjoying our day out, buying various outfits that I hoped Eric would like.

I dropped Amelia back at Pam's around six, laden with shopping bags. The girl could certainly shop.

0-0-0-0-0

I crawled back into bed with Eric when I returned from the mall. It was slightly unnerving seeing him so utterly, well, dead, but I was rewarded for my efforts when he woke by a vampire who was very, very happy to see me. We showered and got ready together and I kept grinning to myself at the intimacy of it all.

Pam and Amelia came to Eric's house for around eight. Pam outwardly looked as good as new as she entered, fangs aside. She gave me a brief hug before nodding to Eric and taking a seat on the couch.

I went to the kitchen to warm Pam and Eric a TruBlood and fixed Amelia and myself a gin and tonic, smiling at the fact that Eric had paid enough attention to keep my favourite drink in his house just in case. When I returned Pam and Eric were talking heatedly about Sophie-Anne. I noted Pam was speaking with a slight lisp and kept putting her hand to her mouth self-consciously. Amelia was watching silently, taking it all in, and took a big swig of her drink as I passed it to her.

"But Pam," Eric's voice was kind but firm, "we need to get our own house in order first. Sophie-Anne can wait, she is weak without the Berts and Andre. Best case scenario, Russell or someone picks her off before we even have to do anything."

Pam was listening, head cocked to one side, but I could tell she wasn't happy about not getting her pound of flesh and, after last night, I didn't blame her.

"She can't get away with it though, surely Eric? The woman's insane. What if she comes after one of us again?" I interrupted.

He turned to me, eyebrows furrowed. "Oh we will kill her and soon... and of course she cannot be allowed to remain as queen. But if we attack now, she will be expecting it. Sophie-Anne still has her supporters; she is weak but by no means defenceless. And we do not know which of our people can be relied on. Pam is not yet at full strength..." He looked at Pam and she subconsciously touched her mouth again. "If I phone her and call truce, we will have time to smoke out our traitor and then plan a surprise attack."

He looked at me as if expecting me to argue back but I lifted my hands in acceptance; he was the expert after all. I looked over at Pam and she shrugged.

"You are right Master," she nodded, resigned.

"When the time comes Pamela, you shall have the kill," he smiled. Pam perked up at that, an evil glint in her eye, and for the first time since her abduction, she looked like her old self.

Nothing like contemplating the murder of a psychopathic despot to put a smile on Pam's face, I guess.

"So what is our plan for tonight?" I asked.

"First I need to call the Queen," he said grimly, getting up off the couch. "And then we go to Fangtasia to find our spy."

0-0-0-0-0

Eric came back from his study about twenty minutes later with an impassive look on his face.

"The Queen has accepted my offer of truce," he announced calmly. "She acknowledged that by going after my child, I had the right to go after hers. I have agreed to make substantial financial reparations for their deaths. I have also apologised for my behaviour in relation to Sookie and pledged her services in the coming weeks..."

I opened my mouth to say something but Eric beat me to it.

"Relax, Lover. You won't really be working for Sophie-Anne but agreeing that you'll work for her gives us a pretence to go to New Orleans when the time is right. It also means that she won't come after you in the meantime."

"So how long till we do this?" Amelia piped up from across the room.

"It takes approximately three weeks for fangs to grow back..." Eric suggested, with a small smile to Pam. "We can have things in place by then."

"And then we stake the bitch," Pam concluded.

"And then we stake the bitch," Eric agreed.

0-0-0-0-0

Fangtasia was already rammed and there was a huge line of fangbangers queueing around the block. I had to put up my shields to block out all the hostile thoughts being bombarded at me as Eric took my hand and led me in through the employee entrance.

I got a glimpse of Clancy at the main door and frowned. If there was a traitor, my money was definitely on him.

Pam and Amelia we're already waiting in Eric's office. Pam was trawling through one of the large filing cabinets and finally retrieved a large bundle of paper. She gestured for Amelia and me to sit down on Eric's couch.

A shiver ran through me as I remembered the last time I'd been on the couch and out of the corner of my eye I caught Eric stifling a grin. I poked my tongue out at him, childishly, while Pam and Amelia weren't looking.

Pam pulled something off of the printer and handed a piece of paper each to Amelia and me. "Here's a list of Fangtasia/Area 5 employee cell phone numbers," she said, suddenly all authority. She divided the large bundle into two piles, again handing us one each. "And here are the last three months' itemised bills for each number. I want you to go through each bill and highlight any unrecognised cell phone numbers and any number with a New Orleans area code..."

Amelia and I both frowned at her. This was going to take all night.

"And what are you going to do boss?" Amelia asked, snarkily.

"I am going to search through the employee email accounts," Pam replied matter-of-factly.

"And Eric?" I asked with slightly more attitude than I'd been going for.

Pam sighed.

"I will do what I do best and go enthral the vermin. After all we must maintain an air of business as usual," Eric replied arrogantly.

Amelia and I rolled our eyes in unison.

"Fine," I said, resigned, slumping down on the couch. Pam chucked a pink highlighter pen at me and I immediately thought of at least two places I would like to shove it.

After what seemed like hours of fishing through cellphone records, I set my highlighter to one side with a sulky sigh. Pam looked up from her screen, expressionless.

"If I'm going to spend my evening doing this," I whined, stretching out my body, which had begun to seize up, "I, at least, deserve a drink doing it." I looked at Amelia who was also flexing her joints. "Amelia?"

"I'll have a beer I guess?" she suggested.

"TruBlood Pam?" I asked, trying to be polite.

"Why, sure," she purred, picking up the phone. "I'll call for one of the waitresses."

"No, it's fine, I need to stretch my legs anyway, so I'll go out to the bar."

"And that way you can keep an eye on Eric," Amelia teased.

I shot her a look.

"What?" she laughed. "It's true."

I looked at Pam and she gave me a shrug like she didn't care what I did, as long as I let her go back to work, so I slipped out of the office, along the corridor and into the main bar.

Eric was, of course, sitting on his throne. He felt me as I approached and whipped his head around to look in my direction. After a second he descended from the stage and came and stood by me next to the bar. He didn't say anything as he stood beside me but ran a finger lightly down my arm giving me goosebumps.

The bartender, a vampire of, I guessed, Native American origin, looked over at us both and indicated that he would be over in a second. I smiled, nervously. The guy was kind of scary looking but I knew I was fine with Eric next to me. He approached and Eric made the introductions.

"Sookie Stackhouse, this is Longshadow."

"Pleased to meet you," I said, uneasily.

Longshadow leered rather than smiled, fangs out, and I looked down at my hands to avoid eye contact. "What can I get you, Sookie?" he asked, voice gruff.

"Um, could I have a gin and tonic, a beer, and a TruBlood for Pam please?"

He nodded and went to get the drinks. At that moment Clancy sidled up behind Eric, talking to him in a low voice and effectively blocking me out of the conversation with his body. If Eric considered it to be rude, he didn't say anything.

Eric nodded at Clancy and then turned to me. "I must deal with something out front Lover."

I smiled. "Fine, I'll see you later?"

"Yes," he replied simply and was suddenly gone. Clancy took a second to give me a passing scowl and then he followed Eric.

Seconds later Longshadow was back with the drinks, on a black Fangtasia tray, and I carried it, expertly, back to the office.

I backed into the office door, pushing it open with my bottom, tray held out in front of me. As I turned into the room I noticed Pam was stood up from her desk and there was an uncomfortable silence in the room, like they both knew something that I didn't.

Amelia broke the silence. "Hey Sookie, you're back," she beamed, a little too enthusiastically.

I looked at them both questioningly and when they both looked away, I dropped my shields and listened in on Amelia.

Oh.

I quickly put them back up again. Amelia and Pam? That I did not need to see!

I plastered on my nervous grin and placed the drinks tray down on Eric's desk.

"I, um, I'm just going to go to the bathroom," I said, glancing at them both, a blush spreading across my cheeks. I edged out of the office, giving Pam a little wink as I left.

0-0-0-0-0

I made my way to the employee bathroom and two of the waitresses were touching up their make-up in the mirror. I recognised April Kelly from the first set of interviews I'd screened weeks ago. She'd turned out to be a great employee just as I'd expected. The second girl, Ginger, I think her name was, I didn't know much about. She'd come to Fangtasia for a job after the Great Revelation and you could see from all the bite marks proudly displayed over her scrawny body, that she wasn't in it for the tips.

I briefly wondered if Eric had ever fed from her and then pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

The waitresses were gossiping about one of the vampires, Maxwell Lee, having a gambling problem but clammed up immediately when they realised I was there. It suddenly occurred to me that of all the people that might know what was going on behind the scenes at Fangtasia, it might be the waitresses, the fangbangers.

"Hey girls," I said, giving them both my warmest Southern smile.

April's thoughts were automatically friendly but Ginger was jealous of my connection to Eric and her thoughts were far less cordial. They said hello back, April's smile distinctly more genuine than Ginger's, and I tried to think of a way that I could engage them in a conversation that might give me some answers.

"So, um, Pam has asked me to talk to you and the other girls about how you are enjoying the job. How you are being treated by the vampires, that sort of thing?" I lied.

Ginger frowned, thoughts instantly suspicious but April nodded warmly, happy to help.

"You want us to just go through them?" Ginger asked.

"Well, er, what about Clancy for example?" I asked, tentatively. He was my chief suspect so might as well start with him. Both girls' thoughts immediately flashed to the red-headed vampire. I could see that he had fucked and fed from Ginger a couple of times but had also ignored her quite hurtfully afterwards. April thought he was a bit snooty but hadn't really had much contact with him.

"Oh he's fine," April said out loud. "A little quiet, I guess, but that's it." Ginger just nodded, agreeing with her assessment, still wary of divulging to much to me.

I scrolled through the list of vampire names that I knew. "Felicia?" I asked, hopefully.

"Oh, she's real nice," April said straight away. I realised that Felicia was much more April's type than Clancy would ever be. All April's thoughts about her were filled with friendly moments.

Unsurprisingly, Ginger was also envious of Felicia but she didn't have any genuinely bad thoughts about her either. Nothing useful. "She's real fair to us," Ginger agreed. "She'll even help out occasionally when we get too busy."

Damn. This wasn't getting me anywhere. I gave it one last try. "What about Longshadow, is he real nice too?" I quizzed.

"Um, I guess Longshadow is a bit more of a vampire from the old school..." April replied, diplomatically. Her mind however was contemplating several situations where Longshadow had made advances. April had been scared. She didn't strike me as the type of girl who spooked easily.

Ginger shot her a look to shut up. I prompted Ginger again. "And you? What are your thoughts on Longshadow?" I could tell that Ginger was trying to focus on Longshadow, to form a coherent thought about him. But her mind was foggy. It was like she was clutching at memories but there were only fragments and they kept slipping through her fingers like sand.

Glamour. Ginger had been glamoured. Glamoured of thoughts that related to Longshadow.

"Ginger?" I coaxed. "Tell me about Longshadow?"

Her thoughts flashed again, trying to hold on. "What about New Orleans, Ginger? Have you ever been to New Orleans?"

April and Ginger both looked at me with surprise, wondering where I was going with this. Ginger's mind suddenly glazed over a meeting with someone in New Orleans. I grabbed Ginger's arm trying to increase my telepathy by making contact.

"Who did you met in New Orleans, Ginger?" I asked, voice firmer now as she began to struggle against me. I tightened my grip.

April came over as if to intervene. "Sookie, please..." she began.

"Fuck you!" Ginger sneered at me, wrenching her arm away from me, but not before I saw it. A flash of who she met in New Orleans.

It was Marietta. Marietta, human paramour of Sophie-Anne.

Christ. I needed to tell Eric. "I'm sorry," I said, hands up in a conciliatory gesture as I made to leave. "I'm sorry," I whispered again.

I ran out of the bathroom into the corridor in the direction of the bar, breathing shallow with nervous excitement. I'd figured it out. I knew Eric would be proud.

I didn't notice him behind me until it was too late. I felt his hand grab my shoulder roughly, his nails breaking the skin and drawing blood. He spun me around and pushed me up against the wall, fangs bared. I went to scream but he covered my mouth with his hand. I could smell stale alcohol on his fingers and I was finding it difficult to breathe.

I looked around wildly, as I struggled, hoping that someone would see us out here. But the passageway was dark, empty.

No-one here but me and Longshadow.

**A/N: So please review. I'd love to hear your thoughts. **

**And don't worry, Sophie-Anne is coming up...**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you all for all your feedback on last chapter. I love receiving all your comments – they really do mean so much to me.**

**I'm soooo sorry it took me ages to update (Thorsminion – I hope the wait didn't completely drain you!) but even fanfic writers need a holiday every now and again! Good news is that I was driving around the American South, visiting places like Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, so I have come back with lots of inspiration! Rest assured I will update regularly now I'm back.**

**Seeing as I left you high and dry for a few weeks, I thought you might like an Eric POV.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

I went back to the stage after helping Clancy settle an issue with the fire department. Frankly, he should have been up to dealing with such aggravations by himself. So we had a few too many bodies in the bar tonight - how hard is it to glamour a fire inspector or a kick the requisite number of fangbangers out on the street? I felt a flicker of irritation that my time with Sookie had been cut short as I surveyed the fangbangers with a sneer.

I let my mind wander to earlier in the evening when Sookie had been curled up next to me as I rose. It felt amazing waking up with her scent surrounding me, feeling her hot little body pressed up against mine and the hum of her breathing against my chest. We had taken our time with one another, languidly tasting, feeling every inch of each other. I couldn't get enough of her and it was both infuriating and exhilarating at the same time.

A particularly trashy-looking fangbanger approached the stage interrupting my thoughts. She was covered in bites and reeked of alcohol and cheap perfume. Beer bottle in hand, she was swirling her tongue around the opening in a vain effort to attract my attention. I ignored her, resolving to myself that I would endure another half hour of this and then I was taking Sookie home. The vermin had never held much interest for me. Now they just plain pissed me off.

Just then I felt a sudden jolt of fear through the bond.

Sookie.

She was nearby and yet she was terrified. I took a second to hone in on her position and rushed through the bar, pushing people out of my way as I made my way to the staff corridor. I could smell her scent and her fear in the air; she'd been here seconds ago. I looked around me wildly, dread seeping into my consciousness, as I followed the scent out to the parking lot. Behind me Pam burst out of the office, stake in hand, having sensed my emotions.

"What is it Master?" she asked, scanning the parking lot, concern evident in her voice. Amelia had followed her out, clearly alarmed by the fuss.

"Sookie," I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady as I realised that I could no longer feel her through the bond.

"Taken?" my child asked softly.

"I can't feel her Pam, " I admitted quietly. Pam frowned as Amelia let out a small gasp behind me, immediately fearing the worst.

"Unconscious," Pam replied, glancing sternly between the two of us as if daring us to suggest anything different. "She must be unconscious. Until we know any different, that's what we assume."

I nodded, taking a deep breath that I didn't need to level myself and started barking orders. "Pam, call everyone together, human staff in my office, vampires in the back room, and then close the club. I want everyone else out. But round up those people milling in the parking lot," I said, pointing to a group of fangbangers smoking outside the employee entrance. "I want to know what they saw."

"Amelia," I turned to the witch who nodded firmly, blinking away tears with resolve. "Go find Clancy – he's the red-headed vamp who works the door – tell him I want to see the bar security tapes for the last twenty minutes. And you'll need to do a locater spell. Whatever you need for that, get it."

I spoke to the waitresses first, as Pam headed off to interrogate the parking lot fangbangers. Most of them were of little help but Ginger and April relayed a conversation they had had with Sookie moments before she was taken.

Longshadow and New Orleans. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that Sookie had found our traitor. I released the girls as Pam entered the office and closed the door behind her.

"Longshadow?" I asked with a grimace.

She nodded. "Longshadow."

I'd known Longshadow for a number of decades. He was fairly old, older than Pam, and as ruthless a vampire as I'd met. Although up until now I had never doubted his loyalty, I knew he was capable of almost anything and tried not to let my mind wander through the possibilities. If Sookie were alive, I hoped she stayed unconscious for as long as possible.

Following a knock at the door, the witch entered the room. "Clancy says that the security tapes have been wiped," she relayed without emotion. It wasn't that important now, we knew who our abductor was, and why, but something about Clancy's involvement in this was niggling me. "As for the locater spell, Sookie's purse is over there," she pointed to the couch and my stomach dipped involuntarily, "so I'll have my pick of personal items… I take it we are assuming she's been taken by the Queen?"

"We are," I nodded curtly.

"Then I'll need two maps: one of the state of Louisiana and one, more detailed map, of New Orleans."

Pam took Amelia off to find the maps and I went into the back room to brief the vampires working tonight. Gathered before me were Maxwell Lee, Felicia, Thalia, Chow and Clancy. I explained the situation: that Sookie had been taken by an operative of the Queen following an earlier attack on Pam. I explained that our plan was to mount an attack on the Queen at first dark tomorrow.

Nobody asked where Longshadow was and I didn't remark on his absence.

I dismissed Clancy, instructing him to do his best to recover the missing security footage. I knew by now that I'd never see those tapes, just as I realised that he really hadn't needed me to help with the fire official earlier tonight. He'd just wanted me out of the way.

Once he had left the room and was well out of earshot, I issued my real instructions to the remaining vampires. "We attack the Queen tonight. We are currently in the process of tracking down Sookie's location. Maxwell Lee, Felicia, Chow, you will come with Pam and I to New Orleans. Thalia, I want you to stay here and watch Clancy. If he so much as looks at you suspiciously, stake him."

Thalia grinned, fangs down, clearly happy with her instructions. Maxwell Lee and Felicia looked fairly taken back by Clancy's role in this but both vampires knew better than to question my orders.

Pam and Amelia entered seconds later. "She's in transit," Pam said firmly, "but looks to be headed to New Orleans."

Amelia interrupted, "I can try again once we get to the city but my best guess is that he's taking her to the palace." She paused and came up to me, resting her hand lightly on my arm. "Eric, if I can locate her, it means she's alive. We can still save her."

I nodded as relief washed over me. "Thank you," I said quietly and she gave me a small smile in return.

"I have booked a plane," Pam chimed in. "Those who are coming should be ready to depart in ten minutes."

0-0-0-0-0

We got off the plane in New Orleans, the humidity damp and cloying. Amelia had tried again and pinpointed Sookie's location to the palace. Moreover, half way through the flight the bond had flooded with life. With relief, I acknowledged that Sookie was conscious again but I also knew that she was afraid and in pain.

I tried to keep myself calm as I envisaged ripping Longshadow's head from his shoulders.

We approached the palace on foot and I took to the sky above the compound in a bid to obtain some better surveillance information. Clancy had clearly relayed to the Queen that we were planning to attack the next day because, although some haphazard defences were starting to be assembled, there was no extra manpower in place yet. I smiled, noting that the east side gate only had two guards in place, probably Weres, who could easily be overpowered.

I landed stealthily back where the others were concealed and pointed towards the east side of the palace. We made our way there and I held up two fingers, indicating that there were only two guards. I looked to Amelia and she nodded, whispering some sort of chant beneath her breath. Chow looked at her with consternation. To say he wasn't a big fan of witches was an understatement.

In a flash, the two guards disappeared. It took me a second to realise that in their place were two small black cats. Felicia gasped and Chow muttered something in Japanese under his breath. I looked at the cats and then Amelia, eyes wide. Only Pam seemed unsurprised that the witch had so much power. I noted that for another time. Amelia smiled smugly at me and then gestured for me to go ahead.

"Stay here," I whispered sternly to her.

"No," she replied, eyebrows crossing. "You might need me inside and there's no way I'm staying out here while Sookie is in there. She saved my life, I'm not leaving her… Plus she can read my mind. It may help her to know that we are coming to save her."

"Fine," I scowled. She had a point after all. I handed her a small wooden stake. "Take this and try not to get yourself killed."

She grabbed the stake from me, tucking it into the belt on her jeans. "Thank you Eric," she said sincerely. I nodded at her and then focussed on the job in hand.

Pam and Chow led the way through the palace, scanning the corridors, following Sookie's scent. I followed wielding my broadsword with Amelia close behind, brow furrowed as if she were projecting thoughts for Sookie to pick up. Felicia and Maxwell Lee brought up the rear.

We approached the room where Sookie was being held. Her scent was unmistakeable now and I tried to send her calming feelings through the bond. I could sense her feelings of hope and I knew she knew we were here to get her. In an instant, the hope was replaced by searing pain and I heard her cry out from behind the closed doors.

In one swift movement, Pam and Chow burst through the double doors, crouching into a fighting stance just inside the entrance to the room. We rushed in behind them as I surveyed the scene. Sookie was lying on a chaise longue, not unlike the one on which we had first exchanged blood, set out in the middle of the room. The Queen was hunched over her, fangs out and mouth bloody, looking up at us with feral eyes. Longshadow had immediately moved to stand by Sophie-Anne. She also had a dozen guards in the room, now poised for attack.

I noticed to my horror that Sookie was covered in bite wounds all over her arms, neck and shoulders. Her dress had been hitched up and there were also bite marks marring her inner thighs.

The Queen grabbed Sookie up by the neck, pulling her towards her. Sookie yelped in pain and I ran forward instinctively.

"Not another step, Sheriff," Sophie-Anne sneered, "or I'll break her delicate little neck before your foot touches the floor." She looked unhinged and I admonished myself for ever underestimating the extent of her particular brand of crazy.

I stopped dead in my tracks, looking Sookie in the eyes, trying desperately to reassure her. Her eyes were pleading with me and I had never felt so helpless.

"Put your sword down, Eric, and tell your minions to drop their weapons…" The Queen's voice was firm, cruel.

I lay my broadsword on the floor. I still had at least five other weapons concealed on my person but I wasn't going to give them up so easily. I looked behind me and nodded at Pam and the others to lay their weapons down. Amelia laid her stake on the ground and then looked at me calmly, with a serene smile.

It happened then in a matter of seconds. Sookie lifted her arm and Amelia's stake went flying through the air, slamming into her outstretched hand. Sophie-Anne went to move for the stake but Sookie was too fast, ramming it into the Queen's chest as Sophie-Anne let out a blood-curdling scream. Her body began to collapse in on itself, showering Sookie with blood and tissue as it crumpled to the floor.

In that instant, I picked up my broadsword from the ground and with one heavy stroke, cleaved Longshadow's head from his shoulders. Pam and the others had their weapons up in a second and had the astonished guards hemmed in at either side of the room. Chow calmly staked one of the guards as an example and his colleagues quickly dropped their weapons in surrender.

Sophie-Anne's corpse lay desiccated on the floor as Sookie tried valiantly to wipe the Queen's blood off yet another ruined outfit. She looked at Pam sheepishly, rubbing her neck. "Sorry, Pam, I know that was supposed to be your kill."

Pam shrugged and then smiled, somehow still menacing even without her fangs. "Don't worry about it. It's a far more humiliating death for her to be finished off by a _mere_ human. It's actually quite fitting."

Sookie returned her smile with a smirk of her own. "Thanks... I think."

Pam walked over to Sookie and gave her an ungainly hug as I watched in amazement, taking in the attachment my child had formed with my lover in such a short space of time. After a second, Pam crouched down beside the Queen's corpse and taking her withered hand, removed the ring sitting on what remained of her right index finger. The ring comprised of a huge emerald in an antique gold setting; it was very old, my guess was Byzantine. I recognised it as the ring worn by the vampire monarchs of Louisiana.

Pam stood up and looked at me, questioningly. I nodded briefly and she made her way to me, dropping to her knee at my feet. Maxwell Lee, Chow and Felicia followed suit, as did the remaining vampires in the Queen's guard. I held out my right hand to Pam.

I could feel bewilderment coming from Sookie through the bond and she looked to Amelia for an explanation. The witch shrugged, approaching Sookie and wrapping an arm around her as Sookie turned back to stare at me, confused. I smiled at her gently before turning to Pam.

There really was no other way to fully protect her.

Pam took the ring and slid it carefully onto my little finger. She paused for a second and then looked me in the eye, proclaiming clearly with a triumphant smile, "The Queen is finally dead. Long live the King."

The others murmured their assent as Sookie just watched me with her mouth open. She was right to be overwhelmed, she was now blood-bonded to the vampire King of Louisiana. As those in the room offered me their fealty, she eventually made her way across the room and paused before awkwardly giving me a half-curtsey. I grinned at her, knowing from the bond how much that submissive gesture had pained her and, pulling her into my arms, leaned into her for a kiss.

"You, my lover, are all kinds of trouble..." I murmured before gently tracing my lips against hers.

She looked at me from under her eyelashes with such passion, such trust, and then smiled cheekily at me. "But so very, very worth it," she finished with a giggle.

"That you are," I agreed. "Come on, his majesty wishes to retire to the royal bed chamber..." I suggested with a raised eyebrow.

She elbowed me in the ribs with a low chuckle. "That's going to get old real fast, Buddy."

"Buddy?" I asked laughing. "Your Highness, Your Majesty, My Liege even. But _Buddy_?"

"Mmmm-hmmm. Now let's get out of here, please, _Your Majesty_. The royal concubine requires a shower…" she added with a wry smile.

I instructed Pam to phone Thalia to deal with our final loose end and with one final look at the carnage around what was now my palace, I grabbed Sookie's hand in mine and lead her out of the compound.

0-0-0-0-0

She emerged from the bathroom in a burst of steam, white towel wrapped around her and hair swirled up in a little white turban.

"Feel better?" I asked with a smile.

"Much," she smiled at me. "Though I don't know why I keep buying new outfits, I should just get me some plastic overalls, with all the blood I seem get over me these days…" she huffed, rolling her eyes with a smirk.

"Come," I gestured and led her out onto the private balcony of our hotel suite. It overlooked the French Quarter and had been decorated with climbing bougainvillea plants and candles.

"Eric," she gasped, rushing up to peer over the balcony, "this is so beautiful."

I came up behind her and began to trace my fingers over her bare shoulders. She had so many bites; it sickened me that her skin had been impaired in such a way. I bit into my index finger and, one by one, began to rub my blood into the puncture marks on her shoulders and arms. Sookie's breathing began to deepen and I felt her arch her back into me. I removed the towel from her head and began to run my fingers through her hair, smoothing it out, and then began to kiss from the nape of her neck down her spine until I got to the edge of the towel wrapped around her body.

"Drop the towel," I growled quietly into her ear. I felt her breathing hitch and I began to kiss down her spine again. She let the towel slacken first, allowing me further access to butterfly kisses down her back. After a minute, to my surprise, she let the towel fall completely to the floor. I heard her gasp as the warm breeze made contact with slightly damp skin and I continued to kiss down her back, glancing kisses across her buttocks and down each of her beautiful legs, gently rubbing my blood into any bites I found along the way.

I kissed my way back up and gripped her hips gently, urging her to turn around. She did so tentatively, a shy blush creeping across her cheeks as I took in her naked form. I kissed her hard this time and she melted into me pulling my t-shirt out of my jeans in a move to lift it over my head. I pulled it off, breaking the kiss for a second, and then resumed kissing her as she pulled at my jeans, pleading my name into my mouth, rubbing her small hand against my straining erection.

Suddenly concern swept over me. Oh God. "Sookie," I asked, anxiety heavy in my voice, "they didn't…"

She looked at me, puzzled for a second, and then shivered with realisation. She kissed me softly. "No, Eric. I'm fine, I promise."

Relief spread through me like hot liquid and I stroked my hand between her legs, rubbing against her clit. She bucked against me as I groaned at the sensation of her wet warmth.

"Please Eric," she groaned, releasing my dick from its constraints, rubbing her hand up and down my shaft. "I need you."

I stepped out of my jeans and, grabbing her thighs, lifted her up against the balcony rail entering her in one powerful thrust. She let out a groan of pleasure as I began to move inside her. Too overwhelmed to be too gentle, I moved in her again and again, slow and hard. She dug her nails into my back, spurring me on. I reached between us, massaging her with my thumb to bring her to her release as I let go with her, pleasure flooding my senses.

As we both came down, I kissed her deeply one last time and then carried her from the balcony, laying her gently onto the huge bed. I pressed the "light-tight" button to secure the suite from daylight and lay down next to her, pulling her into me.

"Eric," she whispered as she dragged her fingers lazily over my chest.

"Mmmm," I murmured feeling sluggish suddenly as the sunrise began to kiss the horizon.

"Thank you for coming to save me tonight."

"I always will Sookie," I whispered sleepily.

"I know," she sighed, contentedly. "I know that you will."

She leaned over and brushed her lips against mine and I kissed her good night as the sun began to pull me under.

0-0-0-0-0

I was five days into my stay in New Orleans and crown business was already becoming a drag. I had sent Pam back to Shreveport with Sookie and Amelia in tow and my boredom was growing by the day. In the period since I had become King, I had gone through the kingdom's finances, finding them to be in worse shape than I suspected, and had hundreds of interviews with various crown subjects, sycophants and hangers-on. Tonight was my last night of royal duties before I could get back to Shreveport for a couple of weeks.

I interviewed two individuals for the position of Sheriff of Area 1 and settled on one of Sophie-Anne's lieutenants named Rasul. Rasul's promotion through the ranks had effectively been prevented by the fact that the Queen was surrounded by her own children but I knew him to be capable and trustworthy. It would also send a sign to other Sophie-Anne loyalists that I would be merciful, magnanimous even, in return for their allegiance. I didn't anticipate many issues following Sophie-Anne's death but it didn't hurt to be pragmatic.

After bidding Rasul farewell, I looked at my schedule. The Queen had an appointment in her diary with some local witches, which I had decided to honour. It was my last appointment of the night, I was weary but it didn't hurt to stay on the right side of the local witch population. Amelia had shown only recently how useful it could be to have a good practitioner on your side.

Chow showed the witches in, introducing them as Hallow and Mark Stonebrook. I disliked them instantly but hid it beneath an impassive gaze. Hallow, the sister, was tall and thin with broad mannish shoulders and short brown hair. She was the complete antithesis of Sookie in every way, swaggering into my office with a flat chest and a sense of entitlement. The brother was shorter, unassuming to look at. He had a pinched face and wore wire-rimmed glasses. I could tell they were not just witches but Weres as well. I looked at Chow, who was already frowning menacingly at the pair.

I could tell this was going to be a long night...

0-0-0-0-0

I was running but I didn't know where I was going.

I stopped to look around me. I was on an open road; there was no one around. Glancing down at myself, I realised I was wearing jeans but nothing else. No shoes even and my feet were a bloody mess.

Blood. I could smell my own blood, almost taste it on my lips. My senses kicked in then, I could hear the scratch and shuffle of various animals in the bushes, the breeze trickling through the undergrowth and traffic on the road many miles away. But blood, mostly I could sense the blood.

I knew then that I was a vampire.

Panic began to stifle me as I realisation hit that I knew _what_ I was but had no idea _who_ I was. I tried to concentrate but my memory was blank, hazy and empty.

Who was I? Where was I? I had no idea. I felt winded. Scared.

So I did the only thing that felt familiar to me.

I ran.

**A/N: You know what to do – please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: You guys really are awesome - thank you all for all your reviews. I'm getting loads of new favourites/alerts each day too. It really does spur me on to write, so please review if you can! **

**I'm glad you like the new twist in the story but I appreciate that a lot's been happening over the last few chappies, so we are going to take the tempo down a notch in this chapter. Enjoy! **

**Back to the Sookie POV now.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

I arrived home from work just after one in the morning, my feet were aching and I was tired as hell. As I approached the back door, I noticed that the kitchen light was on. I guessed Gran and Amelia were still up. They had been getting on really well since Amelia came back with me from New Orleans; Gran loved having another person in the house to fuss over.

I walked into the kitchen jangling my keys and sorting through my mail which had been left on the table by the door. "Hey, everyone," I called out absent-mindedly before looking up from my phone bill and freezing on the spot in the entrance to the kitchen, surveying the scene before me.

Holy shit.

Gran and Amelia were indeed out of bed and they were looking at me wide-eyed like deer in the headlights. More shocking than that was a half-naked Eric, wearing only a pair of red skimpy briefs and my Gran's old Afghan blanket, crouched down between them on the kitchen floor. He was growling at me, looking both confused and poised to attack.

I put my hands up in front of me in a calming gesture. "Easy Eric," I chuckled nervously, "it's just me!" I looked at Gran and Amelia. "What is going on here?"

They looked at each other uneasily as I surveyed the situation before me. Glancing down at the floor, I saw that someone had kicked over a bowl and there was blood-infused water spilt all over the tiles. "Oh, my lord," I said, starting to get anxious as I took in the bloody washcloth strewn next to the bowl and noticing at the back of my mind that no one had really answered me yet. "What the hell happened here?"

I looked at Eric for an answer, eyes wide with a questioning glare. He had stayed crouched on the floor with his fangs bared. "Eric," I said, more firmly this time, exasperated. "Knock that off!"

"He doesn't know you," Gran finally said softly.

"What do you mean?" I asked incredulously.

"His memory," Amelia offered, "he seems to have lost his memory."

"Like amnesia?" I asked, crinkling up my nose in disbelief. This must be some kind of joke but he was acting so strange… I looked at Eric again and he returned my stare, face blank.

"We think so," Amelia replied. "I can't be sure just yet but I think it may be something mystical. He hasn't spoken much but he doesn't seem to have any recollection of us, who he is, or anything other than the last half hour or so."

"Holy fuck." I looked to Gran shamefacedly in apology for my language but she just looked at me with a quirked eyebrow and a nod, as if in agreement with my assessment of the situation.

I moved slowly towards Eric, palms up and making a soothing sound through my teeth. He took a step back, away from me.

"Eric," I said softly, "it's me, Sookie. Don't you remember me?" He looked at me questioningly and my heart broke a little. For a second there I was sure he'd remember _me_, even if he had forgotten Gran and Amelia. I took another step towards him, reaching out to touch him. "I won't hurt you," I whispered as he flinched away, making to stand closer to Amelia.

My lip began to tremble slightly at the rejection, as I realised he felt safer with Amelia than with me. I chewed at my lip in a bid to keep it steady as I tried to think this situation through. "Where are his clothes?" I asked Gran.

Amelia answered instead and I felt a small wave of irritation wash over me. "He only had on a pair of jeans, no top, no shoes. His feet were all cut and bloody. That's what we were doing when you came in." She pointed to the spill on the floor by way of explanation and I went to the cupboard and pulled out some paper towels to mop it up. "We put his jeans in the wash," she continued.

I crouched on the floor, cleaning up the mess and spoke again, this time to no one in particular. "And he just came to the house, just like that?"

Amelia answered again. "We were both sitting out on the porch, reading, and I saw him approaching. When I recognised it was him, I knew something was up and we got him to come inside. It took us a couple of minutes to work out he had no memories and for him to realise we weren't going to hurt him. He knows he's a vampire but that's about it."

He didn't remember me. Eric didn't remember me. I felt winded, like someone had punched me in the stomach, and bile began to rise and burn in my throat.

"Have you fed him?" I asked irritably, trying to cover up how upset I was.

Gran put two hands to her mouth. "Heavens above, I didn't think!"

"Don't worry Gran," I said with a sigh, chucking the wet towel in the garbage with slightly more force than necessary and heading to the fridge, taking the second I had with my back to the room to wipe away the tears that were pooling, blurring my vision. "Here," I said handing her a TruBlood. "Twenty seconds on full power in the microwave and he'll be right as rain."

Gran scuttled off to fix Eric his dinner, seemingly glad to have something semi-normal to do. I noticed Eric was now standing even closer to Amelia, Afgan pulled tight around him as if he were cold, but his eyes had followed me around the room ever since I had tried to approach him. "Did y'all call Pam at least?" I asked Amelia.

She cocked her head to one side as if sensing my oncoming mood. "No, not yet. As I said we were trying to get him cleaned up," she replied evenly.

"I'll give her a call then," I replied, sounding petulant even to me.

"You do that," she snapped.

Eric looked between us as if sensing something was amiss. He finally gave Amelia a questioning look, raising one eyebrow like he used to do all the time to me and I thought I might throw up. She just shrugged in response.

"I'll try to find you some clothes as well," I said to him softly with a forced smile, trying to appear calm. He turned to me and nodded, finally retracting his fangs.

I went into the living room to phone Pam running the backs of my hands across my tears as I went. Feeling a presence behind me, I turned around to see Eric had followed me, bottle of TruBlood in hand. I sighed.

"You really don't remember me Eric?" I asked, voice cracking just a little.

He shook his head.

I took a harried breath and tried to remind myself that this wasn't about me. I couldn't comprehend how confused and scared Eric must be right now. "I'm so sorry that this has happened to you Eric. But I'm going to phone Pam. She's a vampire too and she's known you a really long time... She'll know what to do. We'll fix this, I promise."

He nodded firmly and then looked at me quizzically, eyes intense, and my breathing seemed to become heavier.

He spoke then, for the first time, voice low and even. His accent seemed slightly thicker, different somehow. "You've had my blood." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," I admitted shyly.

"A number of times."

"Yes."

"Why?" He looked perplexed and began to absent-mindedly peel away the label on his blood

Christ, what did I say here? Would it only confuse him more to know about us? After hesitating for a second, I opted for a vague answer. "All sorts of reasons, I guess."

"Which are what exactly?" He didn't seem like he was going to let this go.

"Um, for example, I got shot once and you gave me your blood to heal me..." He opened his mouth to speak again but I carried on. "Look I really should call Pam and then I'm sure Jason, that's my brother, would have left some clothes around here somewhere. He's a bit shorter than you but it'll have to do for now."

I didn't have Pam's cell number, so I dialled the number for Fangtasia. Someone answered the phone after two rings: "Fangtasia, the bar with a bite." I sighed in relief that it was Pam and I didn't have to go through a truculent waitress.

"Pam, thank God! It's Sookie, look I don't really know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. The thing is..."

"Sookie darling," she interrupted with a drawl, "so delightful to hear from you but I'm afraid I'm a little busy here tonight. Can we do this another time?"

"Not really Pam, I kinda need to talk to you now."

"I really am busy tonight." Pam's voice was firm; she sounded slightly strained and she wasn't normally quite this dismissive.

"Pam?" I asked quietly. Something wasn't right.

"Yes we have delegates from the kingdom of Nevada here to entertain at present. Seeing as His Majesty is away tonight on royal business, it falls to me to entertain them." She chuckled down the phone, laugh high and trill and for a second it reminded me of Sophie-Anne. Like her regal counterpart, it was totally fake.

Oh shit. She knew something was up and she didn't want whoever was there from Nevada to know. "Okay," I played along nervously, "so I just phoned to see how you were really. We're _all_ fine here but it would be nice to see you soon Pam. We really do need to catch up."

I could almost hear the cogs turning in Pam's head at the other end of the telephone. "I understand Sookie. We'll catch up soon."

"Okay, bye Pam," I hung up, not sure whether the message had got through or not.

Eric was looking at me puzzled. I gestured to the phone, "I _think_ she worked out that you were here. There seem to be some bigshots from Nevada at Fangtasia and she doesn't seem to want them to know what's going on." Eric's frown deepened. "Oh right, of course you need a bit more information than that." I paused, thinking of how to put together a brief history of Eric's life as I knew it.

"You and Pam, who hopefully you'll meet later, own Fangtasia together. It's a vampire bar." He nodded and I continued after a pause. "On top of that you used to be Sheriff of Area 5 in Louisiana..."

"Area 5?" Eric cut in.

"Yeah, um, I'm obviously not a vampire but, as I understand it, each state in the US is a vampire kingdom. Each kingdom is then split up into areas. Area 5, your old area, included Shreveport where you live, Bon Temps where I live and the surrounding area. Area 1, for example, includes New Orleans and the towns around it." I looked at him, questioningly, to see if he was keeping up.

"I understand," he nodded seriously. "You said used to be..."

"Huh?" It was me who wasn't keeping up all of a sudden.

"Used to be Sheriff of Area 5," he encouraged.

"Oh yeah. Well you were a Sheriff and Sophie-Anne was Queen of Louisiana but basically she went batshit crazy and hurt Pam and then, well, she kidnapped me, so..."

He nodded firmly, grinning at me for the first time tonight. "So I killed her and became King." He sounded highly pleased with the idea.

"Yes," I replied with a wry smile, "well, sort of. Actually, technically I killed Sophie-Anne, with help from Amelia. But yes you became King of Louisiana." I reached across to him and took his hand in mine. He looked at me warily but didn't move to take his hand away. "This ring means you're King," I said glancing my fingers across his cold hand.

He looked at his hand and then up at me. "You killed a vampire Queen?" His eyes had lost all their earlier defensiveness; his look was kind and inquisitive and just a little incredulous. I nodded at him sheepishly, biting my lip. He continued to stare at me unwaveringly until I had to look away. Holy smoke, he may have lost his memories but his ability to melt my panties was still very much in tact.

I tried to stumble on. "Um, you decapitated Longshadow, who was working for Sophie-Anne and had been a spy in your camp and Pam and Chow were taking on the vampire guards, so really the whole coup thing was a group effort..."

"I see," he smiled. "Well it's good to know that I did my part."

"You did. No worries about that," I assured him with a chuckle, lightly touching his arm in reassurance.

He glanced briefly at my hand on his arm and then took it gently in his opposite hand, holding it in front of him, palm up. My breathing hitched and I wondered if I should pull my arm back but I somehow couldn't move. Eric looked into my eyes, his gaze soft, questioning, and then moved his face towards my wrist. He closed his eyes and it looked like he was sighing but I realised, as his nose and lips gently grazed my pulse point, that he was taking in my scent.

I stood waiting, desperately hoping that he would remember me, remember us. I closed my eyes too and tried to probe the bond but there were too many feelings coming from Eric at any one time. I had to dampen it down, feeling a little dizzy, so I simply revelled in the feeling of his cold skin glancing against mine.

I felt myself flinch and withdraw my hand as I heard her brain before she opened her mouth. Eric's eyes flew open at my reaction as Amelia entered the room. "Did you call Pam?" she enquired casually, not appreciating that she had interrupted a moment between us.

"She couldn't talk," I shot back, voice heavy with annoyance. Amelia frowned at me, her thoughts wondering what the hell she'd done that had me acting this way towards her. I immediately felt bad. This wasn't Amelia's fault but she really did pick her moments.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, sheepishly.

She looked at me as if pondering whether to make me sweat and then broke out into a broad smile. "That's okay," she replied. "This must be really tough for you…"

Eric wheeled around to look at her, quizzically. Oh shit. Amelia and her big trap! Then he looked at me, raising an eyebrow. My heart did a little dance at that and Eric's eyebrow raised a little higher still. Did he just feel me through the bond? Crap. I looked away quickly, chewing my lip again.

Everyone stood there silently, embroiled in an awkward pause. I looked at my feet, feeling Eric's stare bore into me. I could hear that Amelia was wondering what the hell was going on between us. Finally I looked up at Eric, who had his arms crossed as if expecting an explanation.

"I'll just get you those clothes…" I breathed, swiftly exiting the room. I was not ready for this conversation just yet.

0-0-0-0-0

Pam arrived about 4am. She looked tired, even though I knew vampires did not suffer from fatigue, and I suddenly realised that I was not the only one who would suffer if something ever happened to Eric.

She strolled into the kitchen, graciously accepting a ready warmed TruBlood from my grandmother, but stopped suddenly, bottle poised at her lips, looking Eric up and down as he sat at my kitchen table, blank look adorning his face.

I'd managed to locate a few items of Jason's clothing so Eric was sporting a pair of old work jeans which were slightly too short but slung low enough on his hips to almost make up for it. They were torn at the knee and had various bits of paint and glue stuck to them from years of odd jobs around the house but they were all we had until his jeans were dry. I'd also managed to dig out an old Bon Temps High t-shirt which fit snugly across Eric's broad chest, finishing just below his hip bone and accentuating the beautiful V that dipped beneath the waistband of his jeans. Eric was about three shoe sizes bigger than Jason, so no luck with shoes or boots, but I had managed to find him a pair of flips flops that were just a little small.

He looked a mess but at the same time he had never looked so delicious. Pam, however, did not seem to agree.

"What the fuck Eric?" she finally exclaimed, voice full of disdain, as she approached him and picked imaginary lint off of his t-shirt.

Eric looked at Pam and then at me and I turned to him with a wry smile. "Eric, this is Pam. You made her by the way, so don't blame me…"

"I can feel it," he replied seriously.

"Yes," Pam agreed with a slight smile and he nodded.

"What happened to your fangs?" Eric enquired softly.

Pam raised her hand to her mouth in an embarrassed gesture but Eric pulled it away gently, with a soft smile, rubbing her hand with his thumb in a soothing gesture. She looked at him and her face softened. I had never seen them do anything but snark at each other and it was fascinating to watch. I wasn't jealous, I noted with surprise, but I felt like a voyeur, intruding on an intimate moment.

"Sophie-Anne," Pam whispered, with a frown, as if recalling the moment. "She… um, she.."

"Is dead now," Eric finished for her.

"Yes," she agreed with a smile at me, which I returned. "She is dead now."

0-0-0-0-0

Once Pam had got over Eric's wardrobe decisions, we sat her down and explained the situation. She gasped at the initial amnesia news and tried to test Eric as if we were too stupid to fathom out what was really wrong with him. She even waved her hand in front of his eyes, making Amelia, Gran and I giggle and Eric growl. Once she had ascertained for herself that, yes, he really had lost his memory, not his eyesight, she listened to Amelia and I as we filled her in, nodding but asking no questions.

Finally it was her turn to talk.

"Witches," she said, glancing at Amelia. "I'm fairly sure it was witches. Eric had a meeting with two of them from a coven in New Orleans earlier tonight, a brother and sister. According to Chow, who sat in on the meeting, discussions got heated and Chow went to attack the brother, but the minute he laid a hand on him, the witches disappeared and so did Eric. We had no idea where he was. I was…" she glanced at her nails, presumably checking that they were still immaculate, "well, I was very worried."

"Well he's alright," I assured her, "memories aside at least, and Amelia is thinking of ways to fix that." Pam looked at Amelia and she nodded supportively. "You said discussions got heated?" I enquired and Eric cocked his head to one side as if he, too, were interested in this particular part of the story.

"Yes. According to Chow the witches were looking for some kind of pay-off. Extortion as it were. There are many things that a witch can do to disrupt a business, a kingdom, as you can probably imagine. Of course Eric refused. Even if he wasn't who he is, it would be a sign to others that the regime was weak, the King could be blackmailed. There was no way he could accept…"

I nodded urging Pam to go on. I looked around, we were all engrossed, especially Eric. "Well, the female witch had apparently taken a shine to Eric over the course of the negotiations and so offered to take payment in kind instead."

"Come again?" Gran asked, hanging on Pam's every word.

Pam smiled sardonically, "A fraction of the required sum in exchange for one week of pleasure with Eric..."

Gran gasped and let out an "Oh my!" I felt my face burn. I wasn't sure if it was jealousy, anger or the fact that my grandmother was listening so intently beside me. I stole a quick glance at Eric. He seemed to be smiling at the thought that his physical prowess could be worth so much. Typical.

"But Eric refused?" Gran interjected, encouraging Pam to continue as if she were reading a chapter out of the latest romance novel, and giving me a sage look.

"Of course," Pam said with a wave of a hand. "It wasn't the most pragmatic decision," she looked at me pointedly for a second as I shifted my weight in my chair, "but it's a very Eric one. Certainly these days, in any case. So to cut a long story short, tempers were lost, Chow attacked, and the rest, as they say, is history." Wow.

"So what do we do now Pam?" I asked after a pause. "I figure we have a while before he has to be back in New Orleans doing his King stuff and you can look after Fangtasia right?" I was trying to put a positive spin on things.

"Yes, yes, that's all fine for a while…" Pam agreed.

"But?" I asked. There was definitely something else.

Pam sighed. "The reason I couldn't speak freely on the phone earlier on, aside from out of general caution, was because I had two representatives from the kingdom of Nevada in the office. They wanted to see Eric but at that point I didn't have a clue where he was and, well, even now that I do, I can't very well let him talk to them in his current condition. The Kind of Nevada is a greedy, manipulative and power hungry bastard. If he found out about Eric's current predicament, he wouldn't be King of Louisiana for much longer. And as you know, those ousted from power rarely keep their heads. Eric, and by association, I, and maybe even you my little telepath, would be dead before you could say "vampire coup"."

"So in conclusion," I summarized with a deep breath, "we need to keep them away from Eric until he gets his memories back or we're all dead."

"Pretty much," Pam grimaced. "We have about a week. I packed them off to see the King of Mississippi, citing that Eric was away on crown business, but they'll be back soon and expecting an audience."

I nodded. A week? Was that going to be long enough? I glanced at Amelia and she smiled at me weakly.

"And he'll have to stay here of course," Pam added coyly. "No one can see him."

I felt my stomach dip as I stuttered a response. "What? Oh…Um."

"Sookie…" Gran chastised me for my lack of instantly gracious hospitality.

"We don't have anywhere light tight," I offered, feeling a little ashamed. I couldn't look at Eric. I didn't want him to think that I didn't want him here but this was just too damn confusing and painful. Surely Pam was better equipped for this anyway?

"You used to be married to a vampire, did you not?" Pam smirked.

"Ye-es," I agreed cautiously, narrowing my gaze at Pam. Eric's head whipped around to look at me but I couldn't make eye contact. Was that a momentary flash of jealousy, I just felt through the bond? It was too fleeting to tell for sure.

"Then you have somewhere light tight, you just don't know it."

"Okay," I acceded with a resigned shrug. "I guess we'll go check out Bill's, uh, my house then."

It was official: this situation could not get any weirder. My "boyfriend" was the vampire King of Louisiana but had no memories of me or any of his thousand years of existence. And now he would be staying with me, in my dead husband's house, for the rest of the week…

**A/N: See, a whole chapter without someone being kidnapped, tortured or killed! Woo-hoo! Can't guarantee I won't be back to my old ways by the next one though… **

**Do you want to know what happens next? You know what to do…**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: As always, I'm totally floored by the continued interest in this story. Thank you for all your kind comments.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

We said good night to Amelia and Gran and then Pam, Eric and I headed across the cemetery to my marital home. I'd returned a few times over the last month or so to pick up bits and pieces for my extended stay at Gran's but it still felt strange to be back. I still hadn't really decided what I was going to do with the house in the long run.

I let myself in and looked at Eric and Pam as they stayed on the other side of the threshold looking at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes. "I know he's lost his memory Pam but you haven't. You've both been here before," I said, weary and exasperated, just wanting this night over with.

"We can't enter," Eric asserted. "I can feel it."

"Last time we were here, this house was owned by a vampire," Pam clarified, tone bored. "Now it's owned by a human. You have to invite us in."

"Oh, okay." God it was all so confusing. "Please come in, both of you." Pam entered with a self-satisfied smirk. Eric was looking around in the dark, taking it all in as if it was the first time, which, I guess, in a way it was.

I turned the lights on in the hallway and surveyed the house. Nothing had changed but it seemed colder, eerie somehow. "So what are we looking for exactly? Secret panels, false walls, that sort of thing?" I asked, failing to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

"That sort of thing," Pam drawled and then on her instructions we each went off and searched various parts of the house for Bill's secret light-tight space.

After about five minutes Pam called out that she had found it and Eric and I found her crouched down outside the cupboard under the stairs. She had kicked away the Persian rug that lay on the floor of the cupboard and, sure enough, there was some kind of trap door leading under the house.

Pam was muttering obscenities under her breath, cursing both Bill and his shoddy choices in resting places, and then turned to Eric with a grin. "Well you haven't had to slum it for a long while. It won't hurt you to go back to basics. And at least we won't have to worry about you ruining those clothes..."

Eric quirked an eyebrow at her and leaned over to examine the hole in the floor. His look of scorn mirrored Pam's and I had to try and suppress a giggle. And the giggle turned into a huge yawn.

"Well if you guys are done critiquing the accommodations, I best get to bed," I said sleepily. "Eric, the TV and everything is through there, there's a guest bathroom upstairs on the left, should be clean towels out, and the linen closet is next door to that if you want a pillow or a blanket or something, to make your.. um, space, more comfortable..." Eric had bought Gran's Afghan with him, like it was his only possession in the world, but it was pretty old and ratty.

"Good night both of you," I said with a slight wave.

They nodded their good nights as I made my way up the stairs. I went to the linen closet and pulled out fresh sheets and then padded along the landing to my old bedroom. Flicking on the light, I stood in the doorway, frozen to the spot for second, and stared at the large bed in the centre of the room. As the numbness subsided, I closed the door softly and began to strip the linen of the bed. My eyes began to blur and then I felt the sting of hot heavy tears as they started to cascade down my cheeks.

I pulled at the pillow cases and sheets and cried. I cried for Bill and for my life with him; I cried for Eric, for what he had lost and for what I had lost with him. But most of all, I cried for myself, for all that I had been through in recent weeks and for all that I somehow knew was to come; hard uncontrollable sobs that racked my body and made me gasp for air.

My ears alerted me to sudden creak outside my door and I was instantly silent, my body immediately more awake. "Eric?" I whispered, breathing still heavy, but there was no answer. I crept off the bed to the door and opened it swiftly, looking into the hallway outside my bedroom, heart thundering, not sure what to expect waiting for me.

But there was nothing. Just shadows and memories.

Downstairs, I could make out the sound of the television and I cursed my imagination. I closed the door again softly and, not bothering to put the fresh sheets on the bed, snuggled under the comforter and into the unsheathed pillows and fell asleep in an instant.

0-0-0-0-0

I woke up naturally at about half past ten the next day after an uneasy sleep. I looked at the clock

on my bedside table and groaned in the knowledge that I had to be at work for midday. Opting for an extra half hour in bed, I picked up a coffee and a muffin from the gas station in lieu of a proper breakfast and made my way to Merlotte's.

We were busy for the lunch rush and most of the afternoon, so the hours passed quickly as I tended to my tables and tried my hardest to keep up my shields. As I had worked last night and had some recent practice in, it wasn't too hard to keep most people blocked out today. It felt good to be busy and normal for a while.

When the five o'clock news came on on the TV above the bar, Lafayette poked his head out of the kitchen and asked Sam to turn it up. A group of college kids continued their chatter around the pool table but most of the patrons, including Jason and Hoyt, stopped their conversations, some scooting around to watch the story that had Lafayette's interest.

A perky red-head was reporting from outside the Senate building, where the Vampire Rights Bill was currently being debated. The woman went on to relay the main features of the Bill - full legal citizenship for the undead including the right to vote, to own property and to marry humans - and commented that despite heavy opposition from a number of senators, it was likely that the Bill would pass. As the reporter moved off to interview a few passers-by on their thoughts on the new legislation, Sam moved behind the bar and switched off the TV with a frown.

The were a few calls of "hey" from the customers and a "I was watchin' that bitch" from Lafayette but most people turned back to their food and carried on with their day.

I approached Sam, head cocked to one side. "I didn't think you of all people would be against giving rights to minority groups Sam?" My tone was teasing but I was genuinely surprised at his reaction.

"Minority groups my ass," he spat. And I raised my eyebrow at his ill-humoured response.

"I think it's disgusting," Arlene chimed in, coming to collect her beer order from the bar. "What kind of woman marries a dead thing. It's goes against all of God's laws. It's immoral."

I was so not in the mood for Arlene's particular brand of nasty today and I slammed my shields up to protect my brain from her vicious inner monologue. I ignored her and turned to Sam. "So, you really have something against vampires, just 'cos they're different?" I asked him.

"They're not just different, they're dangerous Sookie," he sighed, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair. "And I just believe people should keep to their own kind, that's all."

"I see," I nodded, fury building up inside me. I wanted to ask Sam if his own kind meant humans or animals but I knew that I would regret being so cruel and bit back the words. Still, I couldn't believe the hypocrisy coming from someone in Sam's position. With a huff I went back to my tables and tried to avoid both Sam and Arlene until the end of my shift.

0-0-0-0-0

I got home around ten and found Eric reading on the couch, a TruBlood in his hand. He was back in his own jeans and a plain black t-shirt. His hair was down and falling around him as he read, the blond strands catching the warm light shining from a nearby lamp. He looked up at me expectantly as I approached, his eyes sparkling in the room's soft glow.

"Hi," I said softly.

"Hello Sookie," he replied with a cautious smile and gesticulated at me with his bottle. "Amelia and your grandmother came over earlier this evening with supplies. Your grandmother brought me over some books. I must say this one is rather good." He waved _To Kill a Mockingbird_ at me and I nodded in acknowledgement. "Although, I've probably already read it and just can't remember," he added with a grin.

"It's always been one of my favourites," I agreed, returning his smile.

"How was your day?" Eric asked, taking me by surprise. He seemed more relaxed tonight somehow, more open. I guess he'd had some time to get used to his situation.

I sighed. "It was long. And, well..." I paused. Did he really want to know or was he just asking to be polite?

"And?" he encouraged.

"Some of the people I work with were really pissing me off tonight."

He chuckled. "How so?"

"Well, there's a Bill going through the Senate at the moment that will give rights to vampires. Allow them to vote, get married, that sort of thing. Some people don't agree with it I guess. I wouldn't mind so much but my boss is a shifter, you'd think he would be a bit more understanding, you know."

Eric nodded, more serious now. "People's prejudices often come from fear of their own inadequacies," he smiled softly, waving his book at me to prove his point. "Not everyone is as brave as you."

"Or Scout," I joked and he nodded with a grin. "Anyway, how do you know I'm brave, you can't even remember me?" I teased.

"Well you did marry a vampire before it was even legal..." he suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I didn't exactly know he was a vampire at the time," I interrupted hurriedly.

"And now you are sharing your home with a vampire," he added carefully. I looked at him and he smiled again, softly this time, wearily even. "Not to mention that you offed a vampire queen," his tone was humorous again and I had to laugh. "So yes, despite my deficient cognitive functions, I think I am right in saying that you are brave."

"Thank you Eric," I laughed. He really had made me feel a bit better. He nodded in acknowledgement and went back to his book as I went to make myself something to eat.

That night Eric and I watched a film together in companionable silence. At my instigation, he chose _A Fish called Wanda_, which led him to discover that he could remember how to speak both Italian and Russian. He seemed genuinely excited by this new discovery and it gave me a warm glow to see him so happy, not to mention a warm feeling in my stomach when he started to speak to me in Russian. I think I dosed off before the end of the film because next thing I knew it was morning and I was woken up by the sunlight streaming through the living room window.

I smiled to myself as I noticed that I was curled up on the couch, still in my Merlotte's uniform, wrapped up securely in Gran's old Afghan blanket.

/

After showering and fixing myself some breakfast, I walked across the cemetery to go see Gran and Amelia. Gran was in the kitchen baking and Amelia was in the living room, sat on the rug in front of the fire, papers strewn all around her. I sat down on the couch next to her and Gran came in with a tray of sweet tea and cookies.

"So?" I enquired, once Amelia had looked up. "Any news on getting Eric's memory back."

Amelia frowned. "There's all sorts of memory curses out there. Unless I can be sure which one it is, I could cause more harm than good by doing anything," she sighed. "The safest way to do it would be to find the witch who cast the original spell and either to get her to undo it or tell me the specifics of the spell so that I can undo it."

"Great," I said with a shrug, "I've got a feeling that particular witch isn't going to be helping us out any time soon, even if we did know where she is. And Eric hasn't got much time."

"There is..." Amelia paused, as if uncertain whether or not to continue.

"Yes?" I asked hope flooding my voice.

"Well, I spoke to my mentor Octavia Fant. She's a very powerful witch, much more experienced than me. Apparently if you have the blood of the person who cast a spell, there's an incantation that can be done to reverse the magic. It's dark magic, pretty dangerous stuff, but I could probably do it with Octavia's help."

"Well we'd still need to find her," I countered. "But at least we wouldn't need her cooperation..."

Amelia nodded.

"Okay," I said, taking a sip of my tea and formulating a plan. "I need to speak to Pam and get her to step up the search for that witch. Amelia, do you think your mentor would come to Bon Temps? We could kinda do with her on stand-by."

"I can ask," Amelia replied. "She won't want me doing that kind of magic without supervision."

Then Gran spoke. "Sookie, I'm sure Pam will eventually find this woman but there's every chance it might be too late for Eric's meeting with those vampires from outta town. Maybe as a contingency, you should be trying to, I don't know, school Eric? Teach him to be him? I mean just in case." I looked at Gran, who had been quiet up to now. She had a point.

"I think she's right," Amelia added. "We have to find her first and, even then, there's no guarantees."

I nodded grimly. Teach Eric to be Eric. How the hell was I going to do that?

0-0-0-0-0

I stayed for lunch with them and then headed back to the house. I had decided that morning that it was time I moved back here permanently and to be comfortable with that, I had to pack Bill's things and make the space my own again. I brought a few empty boxes back from Gran's attic and made my way first to the bedroom. I surprised myself by my stoicism as I systematically folded and packed up Bill's clothes and personal items. I didn't cry but instead found myself smiling every now and again from the memories certain items evoked.

I was taping up the last of the bedroom boxes when my stomach growled loudly alerting me to the fact that it had been several hours since lunch. I grabbed myself a quick snack and, not wanting to lose my momentum, I grabbed a box and made my way to the study. I sat on the chair at the desk and began to sort though the items there. I must have been in my own little world as I didn't notice the sky darkening and when Eric entered the room, he made me jump.

"Sorry," he said, taking in my shocked face with a grin. "I didn't mean to startle you." He looked around him, taking in the scene before him and frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Packing up Bill's stuff," I confirmed with a sigh. "I thought it was time."

He nodded pensively and then offered to help. So I put him to work packing up one of the bookshelves while I went for the other. We worked side by side in a comfortable silence. Eric piping up every now and again to check if I wanted a certain book packed. Most of the books went in the box. Bill rarely read fiction, most of his collection was IT-related, which I knew I'd never want to read; I put the civil war ones to one side for Gran.

I pulled an old book off the shelf, opening it see what it was, and two ticket stubs fell into my lap. I examined them with a sad smile. They were for _Casablanca_,the movie Bill had taken me to see on our very first date. I fingered them lightly, marvelling at the fact that Bill had kept them. Suddenly aware that Eric was watching me, I looked up at him and met his gaze.

"In a way I know how you feel," I said solemnly, my voice almost at a whisper but I knew Eric could here me. "Our memories are what make us us, make us who we are. When I found out that mine had been manipulated for so long, I lost myself for a while. I stopped being so sure of myself. And there are still parts of my past that I can never be certain of, parts that are full of holes. But I guess these tests, these experiences, they teach us who we are too."

Eric smiled tenderly and I got lost in the blue of his eyes for a brief second. I pulled myself away from his thrall. "In any case, you'll be right as rain soon enough. Amelia's got a handle on a way to break the spell you're under. We just need Pam to get the blood of the witch who cursed you..."

"Amelia's a witch? That makes a lot of sense," Eric said, almost to himself.

I felt a pang of jealousy stab through me again as Eric spoke of Amelia with such familiarity.

Eric turned sharply to look at me. "Why do you always feel like that in relation to Amelia?"

I stiffened. The damn bond had betrayed me once again. "Come again?" I stalled.

"Jealous," he replied matter-of-factly. "You feel jealous."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied indignantly. "Amelia is my friend."

"I think you do," he countered, eyes intense. He paused for a second as if thinking things through. "Tell me, before I was like this, were we lovers?"

My breath caught in my throat at the question and I looked away from his prying gaze. "Yes," I admitted, voice barely audible.

"Good," he asserted firmly and I looked at him then, finally brave enough to make eye contact. "Amelia was the first person I saw, the first person I knew. I trust her. But I don't want her. There's a difference."

His eyes were burning a hole in me and I thought I might melt. Eric began to edge towards me, holding my gaze. I felt like I was glued to the spot as I felt my heart begin to quicken. Suddenly Eric broke eye contact, whipping his body around, clearly distracted by something outside. He stood up slowly. "Pam," he growled, as the vampire herself entered the study.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting anything?" she drawled with a leer.

"You were," Eric asserted at the same time as I said, "Not at all." She looked between us and I got to my feet to greet her, grateful for the intermission.

"Hey Pam, d'you have an update for us?"

"Well we haven't found that bitch yet, if that's what you're asking," she grumbled bitterly, "but I've enlisted some help from Alcide's Were pack, so we'll have people tracking her by day too. We'll find her soon."

I nodded and then filled Pam in on Amelia's thoughts on reversing the spell and Gran's idea that we should prepare Eric just in case.

"I think she may be right," Pam acquiesced, face grim. "Our contacts in the Mississippi camp estimate that Nevada will be there for two more nights. So if we don't get the witch tomorrow, we'll have to go to Plan B. I can take him through a few things now but then I have to get back to Fangtasia. I'll come back tomorrow and go through the rest."

"I need to clean up," I said wiping dust off the front of my top. "Can I get you a blood before I go take a bath Pam?"

"No thank you Sookie, I've already eaten," she smirked. "Which reminds me, I wondered if I should arrange for a donor to come to the house for Eric? He's looking rather pale and that synthetic stuff tastes like shit. Presumably you're not..."

I looked at Pam, eyes wide with panic. I didn't know what to say but the thought of Eric feeding from someone else made my stomach turn. I looked to Eric, not quite sure how he'd respond.

"That won't be necessary Pam," he said sharply and I felt myself letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. He looked at me and smiled and I felt every surface of my skin burn.

"I'm going to go take that bath," I murmured shyly. I turned to face his child. "Pam, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Always a pleasure," she trilled, mischievous grin on her face.

"I'm not so sure," I muttered under my breath as I made my way upstairs.

0-0-0-0-0

I sat on my bed in my tank top and sleep shorts, running a comb through my wet hair. There was a gentle knock on the bedroom door and then Eric eased the door open slowly.

"Sookie, can I come in?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course," I replied. "Has Pam gone?"

He nodded and watched me curiously, perched on the end of the bed, as I continued to brush my hair.

After a few minutes of silence, I turned to him. "You didn't have to turn down the donor to spare my feelings Eric, you know," I ventured. "But if you need blood, real blood I mean, you can... uh... you can have mine." Eric looked at me surprise flashing across his face for the briefest of seconds. "I don't, well, you don't want to get weak."

Eric smiled at me then and I felt lust radiate through the bond. He slinked across the bed towards me like a predatory cat. His hair fell into his eyes and he looked beautiful and dangerous all at the same time. He leaned in to me, coming close but not quite touching me, and I knew he was taking in my scent. He ran his index finger down my arm and my body reacted with a shudder. Eric leaned in to kiss me. I wanted to melt into his kiss, to let everything fade away but him.

But I couldn't do it.

I gripped his shoulders and pushed him back gently.

"Eric, please, I can't do this," I pleaded breathlessly.

He looked hurt momentarily and then just as quickly his face closed down and he moved back from me.

"I want to but it's just that, um, you're not really you," I sighed. "It just doesn't feel right to me. I'm sorry," I whispered.

He frowned and I made up the distance between us to take his hand. "So you don't want to have sex with me, out of loyalty to... me," he ventured, sounding amused.

"I guess," I admitted, a blush creeping across my face. "I know it sounds silly."

"It does," he agreed good-naturedly, "but I am also flattered, I think..."

"Flattered?" I was confused.

"That you care enough about the real me."

We sat there quietly for a second, his large hand in mine. "Um, you can still take some blood Eric," I said nervously. "I know you need it. You haven't fed from me in a week."

He nodded but looked cautious. "It will hurt Sookie. If you are not aroused."

"I know. I can handle it," I smiled and offered him my left wrist.

"Thank you," he nodded and just like yesterday he ran his nose over my pulse point, taking me in. He looked at me fleetingly and, popping his fangs, plunged them into my wrist, drawing the blood that flowed there. The pain seared through me and I immediately began to panic, memories flashing through my mind, my breathing becoming erratic and anguished. I felt the room close in around me as I remembered Sophie-Anne sinking her teeth into me, Longshadow laughing as he took my blood, holding me down as I struggled against the pain.

"Stop, please," I breathed. I wasn't sure if it came out. Louder, I tried to say it louder as tears began to well in my eyes. "Stop," I yelled. Clamouring at him, pushing him off.

Eric stopped immediately, his face mirroring my panic. "Sookie, what's wrong. I'm sorry if it hurt..." I held my wrist away from him, trying to stop the bleeding. Eric grabbed my hand. "Please, let me..."

I tentatively extended my arm to him and he lapped at the blood that had pooled there. Then, piercing his finger with his fang, he rubbed his blood into my wrist to close the wound.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"No problem," he said pulling me to him and laid us down on the bed, spooning behind me. He started to stroke my hair, sweeping it away from my face. "Do you want to tell me what just happened?" he asked.

So I did. I told him about Longshadow and Sophie-Anne, about the pain when they bit me, marking my body, about my fears that I would never see my family, my friends or him again, that he would be too late to save me. Finally I told him how he healed all my bites with his blood in New Orleans, tenderly erasing each one and how in that one gesture, he had made me feel safe and loved despite everything else that had happened.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered soothingly, stroking my hair. "You're safe now. You're safe with me."

"I know," I murmured sleepily as he continued to run his fingers lightly down my arm and across my stomach. He whispered to me in a foreign language I did not recognise until fatigue eventually took over and I fell asleep, warm and wrapped in his arms.

**A/N: So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your comments. **

**Next chapter – the vamp we all love to hate (no, not Bill)...**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I had some great reviews this week – thank you so much to everyone who took the time and to all of you who continue to read my little story. I really am grateful.**

**Writing this fic has been a really rewarding experience but I've had it planned out from the start and the end is now in sight. I think maybe three or four more chapters. There's still plenty of action to come though, the body count will rise and of course there are a few relationship wrinkles to iron out… So enjoy.**

Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.

I woke late the next day, stretching my limbs out under the sheets as the sun poured into the large bedroom window. Eric had, of course, long since gone to Bill's hidey-hole but I could smell him on my sheets and it made me smile. I reached across to my night stand to check the time and spotted a note written in Eric's elegant script.

_All wounds heal eventually, even the ones inside of us._

_My heart remembers even if my memory will not. _

_Know that I am here for you._

_E_

I read the note and felt a warm feeling spread from my heart down to my toes. I snuggled down into the bed and closed my eyes remembering the way Eric had held me and comforted me last night.

I was wrenched out of my daydreams by the sound of the phone. It was Amelia calling to tell me that her mentor, Octavia Fant, had agreed to come to Bon Temps. She was going to pick her up from the bus station in Monroe in an hour, so needed to borrow my car. I offered to go with her but eventually agreed we'd just meet for lunch back at Gran's. I felt a sense of relief at the news. We had Octavia, now all we needed was the witch that cursed Eric.

0-0-0-0-0

I liked Octavia immediately. She was a short, buxom African-American woman, with white hair tied back into a neat bun. Her kind face wrinkled a little around the eyes when she smiled but I suspected she was a lot closer to Gran's age than she looked. We stuck to small talk over a lunch of Caesar salad and pecan pie but I could tell from the odd peep at Octavia's thoughts that she was a kind, no-nonsense, sort of woman. She reminded me a lot of Gran.

Gran and Amelia offered to clear up lunch while Octavia and I went to talk in the living room. Amelia had already told her most of what she needed to know as regards the magic required, Octavia wanted to know more about Eric himself.

"Forgive me for prying, Sookie, but if I'm going to be participating in dark magics in order to restore a vampire to his full power, then I need to know the vampire in question is worth the risk. That my actions aren't going to have unforeseen consequences."

"I think I know what you're getting at," I offered cautiously. "Eric is no angel of that I am certain and I'm pretty sure that he's done some things in his past that would absolutely horrify me… He's ruthless with his enemies, that's for sure… But he's also immensely kind and honourable and he protects those he loves with his life. He's deserving of your help, I promise."

Octavia smiled at me, her keen eyes twinkling. "Somebody's got it bad," she teased.

I blushed crimson but gave her a little nod, to which she responded with a chuckle. "Well Amelia told me that you're something of a supe magnet and meeting you now, I can tell why. Spunky, smart and pretty with just that little spark of something extra…"

Gran interrupted us to set down some ice tea on the coffee table. She took a glass and sat down on the couch beside me.

"Extra?" I asked curiously.

"Oh sure, your aura is brighter than any human I've ever seen. Didn't you ever wonder where that telepathy of yours comes from?" Octavia cocked her head to the side with a friendly smile.

"I, um, I forgot the sugar," Gran stammered, seemingly flustered by something, and ran to the kitchen.

I sipped at my tea, which was plenty sweet already, and Octavia gave me a small smile before calling Amelia in to discuss the mechanics of the spell they were planning to do.

I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting away with Octavia and Amelia and helping Gran with a few chores. When the sun began to set, I said my goodbyes and headed across the cemetery to wait for Eric to rise.

0-0-0-0-0

I headed upstairs to get changed into some yoga pants and a tank top. Once I was dressed, I couldn't resist having another look at the note Eric had sent me. I lay on the bed reading and re-reading his words, lost in thought.

The first thing that alerted me that Eric was up was the sound of the shower in the guest bathroom. I listened to the sound of the water and closed my eyes, imagining it cascading over Eric's body, memories of the last shower we took together permeating my thoughts. I knew Eric could feel my lust and part of me didn't care. I wanted him to.

I heard the shower switch off and a few minutes later, I felt, rather than heard, him walk down the hallway towards my bedroom. He appeared in the doorway chest bare, lower half wrapped in one of my fluffy white towels. His hair was still wet from the shower and tiny rivulets of water began to trickle down his chest and over his gorgeously tight stomach. I glued myself to my spot on the bed, gripping the comforter between my fingers. It was all I could do to stop myself from jumping him.

"Hi." He smiled at me and I melted a little more.

"Hey." I tried for nonchalant but it came out as more of a squeak.

"I was wondering if I could borrow a hairbrush please?"

"Oh, of course," I replied, finally pulling myself off the bed to search out a brush.

"I see you found my note," he said, indicating to where I had left it on the bed.

I handed him the hairbrush. "I did, thank you… It made my morning and I've been thinking about it on and off all day," I replied with a shy smile.

"Good," he beamed, running the brush through his hair, flexing various muscles as he did so. Shirt, he needed a shirt. Stat. As if reading my mind, he added with a chuckle: "Thank you for the brush. I will go and put some clothes on and meet you downstairs."

"Sure, I'll see you in a sec," I replied as he left.

I'd been so busy coveting his delicious body that I had totally forgotten I had brought him some clean t-shirts back from Gran's. I grabbed the clean clothes off the chair and went down the hall to his bathroom. Knocking gently I popped my head around the door.

"Eric, I brought you a couple of…"

I stopped dead mid-sentence. Eric had his back to me and was pulling up his jeans. He'd gone commando, as usual, and I was treated to a spectacular shot of his world-class ass as he leisurely sheathed it in denim and did up his fly. He knew I was there and was teasing me, taking his time to turn around.

"…t-shirts," I finished with a stammer, holding out the clothes as if to prove that I wasn't a total voyeur.

He turned to fix me with his gaze and lifted an eyebrow. "Like what you see?" he asked, voice full of sex.

Well, two could play at that game. "It's nothing I haven't seen before, Eric, or bitten before, or licked…" I replied coyly. "It really is a shame you can't remember."

Eric's eyes darkened with lust and I knew I had him. He stalked towards me and pulled the t-shirts out of my hand. "You could always remind me," he suggested as he ran his thumb across my lip. We stood there, inches apart. My thoughts were hazy, my head cloudy and I knew I was panting slightly.

And then the doorbell rang.

"Pam," Eric muttered as I was pulled from my trance. "If she's anywhere near this annoying normally, I'm actually glad I can't remember her."

I chuckled at that. "She is," I confirmed, "but you love her anyway. We'd better let her in."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him downstairs where I opened the door to find Pam on the other side, dressed head-to-toe in baby pink, flipchart perched under one arm, cardboard box in the other and a large plastic bag dangling from her wrist.

"Take this," she said, pushing the box into Eric's hands and handing me the flip chart.

"Hello to you too, Pam," I giggled, rolling my eyes. "You look a vision of loveliness tonight."

"Chanel," she confirmed.

"Of course," I replied, conscious of the fact that my entire outfit was from Target. "Shall we set up in the living room?" I asked.

Pam nodded and so I led them through and set the flip chart up in front of the fireplace. Pam had been busy; a sneak peak revealed she'd prepared flowcharts and diagrams on everything from the vampire power structure to the staff at Fangtasia. She delved into the box that Eric had set on the table and retrieved three files packed with documents and chucked them at Eric.

"You need to memorise those," she said sternly. Eric nodded with a frown.

"Here," she said, handing me the bag. I looked inside to find three boxes of Chinese food with chopsticks and a napkin nestling alongside four bags of blood, the type they hook up to you in the hospital. I was going to go out on a limb and guess that it wasn't synthetic.

"I brought take out," she grinned.

As I ate and they drank, Pam updated us on the search to find the witch Hallow. Apparently, Alcide's Weres had come across some good leads and Chow and Thalia were following up on them tonight.

Once she was done with her blood, Pam stood up next to the flip chart and started to take Eric through everything like a strict school mistress. Some of the vampire political stuff was fascinating but once they got on to business revenues, financial projections and the like, I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. I tried to prise my eyes open but eventually fatigue won out and I fell asleep on the couch.

0-0-0-0-0

I woke up in my bed in my underwear, wrapped in the arms of a rather large Viking. Eric was still behind me and I figured he'd gone into downtime.

"What time is it?" I whispered.

"It's about twenty minutes until dawn," he murmured near my ear, stroking my hair back and kissing my temple.

I shifted around and turned to face him. His cool breath danced over my skin and I could feel goosebumps appear on my arm as he began to stroke it languorously with the tips of his fingers.

"Where are my clothes?" I asked teasingly.

He smiled. "Don't worry, it's nothing I haven't seen before, or bitten before, or licked..."

I giggled and he pulled me closer to him, resting his chin on top of my head.

"I can feel you, all the time," he said, voice low but full of feeling.

"I know," I smiled into his chest, "I can feel you too." I reached up to him and kissed his lips, softly at first and then with more passion. I poured everything I had into the kiss, into the bond, so that even if he couldn't remember, he would know what he meant to me.

Finally, he pulled away and my heart ached at the loss of contact. "I have to go," he said hesitantly. "The sun will be up soon."

"I love you," I whispered, running my thumb along his jaw.

"I know," he smiled and ghosted a kiss across my lips before slipping out from the bed and disappearing into the darkness.

0-0-0-0-0

The next night Eric went through the files again, TruBlood in hand, and I tested him on some of Pam's charts while I ate my lasagne.

I went up to my room at ten to change for Fangtasia. I knew we needed to impress tonight, so I opted for a number I had been saving for a special occasion. It was a strapless, knee-length dress of black lace overlaid on nude silk. I put my hair up into neat ponytail, no necklace, leaving my neck exposed and put on some high black satin pumps.

Eric was waiting by the front door. He was dressed in a light grey Hugo Boss suit and a charcoal shirt that Pam had sent over. He looked good enough to eat. From the way Eric's fangs ran out as I descended the stairs, apparently so did I.

We got to Fangtasia around midnight. The fangbangers were queuing around the block and Eric eyed the scene curiously. "You can't do that," I whispered hoarsely as we entered hand-in-hand through the employee entrance and made our way to his office.

"Can't do what?" he whispered back conspiratorially.

"Look at things like you're seeing them for the first time. You normally wouldn't give those fangbangers a second glance. You're Eric Northman, you need to look at the world with a bored sneer. Nothing surprises you. You've seen it all before remember?"

"Except for you."

"Pardon me?"

Eric stopped as we entered his office. "You surprised me." He whispered into my ear and his breath caressed my neck.

"Yes," I admitted taking a step back lest we start something we couldn't finish. "I surprised you."

We shared a smile and Eric sat down in his chair behind the desk. He looked around him, taking his office in, pulling out the desk drawers one-by-one and examining the contents with an inquisitive frown. Once he'd made himself at home, he held out his arm to me and I crawled into his lap.

Pam breezed in with a tray carrying two bottles of TruBlood and a gin & tonic for me. We sat there in silence for a while, Eric occasionally kissing my temple softly, while we sipped at our drinks. The calm before the storm.

Pam interrupted the silence. "They'll be here soon. Sookie, you should wait in the bar. Chow will keep an eye on you."

I made to move off Eric's lap but he grabbed me gently. "I want Sookie to sit in on this," he said firmly.

"It's highly unusual for a vampire to allow a human to sit in on these kinds of talks," Pam argued. "It will draw undue attention to you and your relationship."

"She isn't any old human Pam. She is bonded by blood to the King. There is a difference." Eric replied calmly. "In any case, I need her here. I need you _both_ here to remind me who I am in case things go awry."

"But Eric…" Pam's contentions were interrupted by her phone ringing. She answered it immediately with a terse hello, nodded and then hung up.

"They're here," she muttered, cursing under her breath.

I quickly got off Eric's lap and made my way to sit demurely on the couch. Eric's body language changed in an instant; power and confidence radiating from him. Despite that, I could feel his anxiety through the bond and I gave him a little half-smile of reassurance. All we had to do is get through this one meeting.

A moment later there was a knock at the door and Felicia entered ushering in two vampires, a woman and a man. The woman was stunning, with long black hair and large brown eyes, like an undead Monica Bellucci. She breezed into the office, flighty and vain, as if expecting the entire room to be enraptured by her very presence. I disliked her on principle. The man was equally attractive, swarthy and exceptionally groomed, but shorter than her in her vertiginous heels. He was smiling as he entered but it didn't reach his eyes. He slithered in behind Felicia, calm and predatory, and I knew immediately that he was the one to fear.

"Your Majesty," Felicia announced, "may I introduce the delegates from Nevada: Giselle Chevalier and Victor Madden."

"Your Majesty," Victor murmured with a slight bow.

"Eric, darling," Giselle laughed. "It's been too long…"

Fuck. She knew Eric. I turned my head slightly to gage Pam's reaction. She was stony-faced but I knew this had taken her by surprise as well. Eric shifted imperceptibly in his seat and I tried to smother my feelings of panic, so he could get on with his job undisturbed by the bond. I saw Victor's eyes flicker to Eric and then to Pam but his face retained its sly smile.

"Thank you Felicia, that will be all. Victor, Giselle, please have a seat." Eric's voice was gruff, commanding. I noticed he didn't stand up but stayed in his chair, flexing his fingers in front of him in a steeple. "I am Eric Northman, King of Louisiana. You have already met my second Pamela and this is Sookie Stackhouse," Eric gestured to me with a regal wave of his hand, "my bonded."

Both vampires' heads whipped around to take me in. My blood went cold as Victor leered at me momentarily before the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile. Giselle gave me a haughty look, seemingly unimpressed by what she saw, and then turned back to Eric.

"Well, well, Eric," she laughed condescendingly, "I am all astonishment. I never knew you had a fondness for humans for anything more than a feed and a fuck…"

"As you said yourself Giselle, it has been a long time…" Eric replied dismissively.

"That said, it is quite unheard of for a vampire monarch to share a blood bond with a human," Victor added, eyebrow raised. He looked at me again appraisingly. "Although I must admit, she does look rather… delicious."

Eric fixed Victor with a calm stare. "Delicious or not, Miss Stackhouse is _mine_, in every sense of the word. As for the blood bond, if I had ever been one to stick to convention, then Sophie-Anne would still be Queen of Louisiana." Eric sighed as if already bored by this discussion and I suddenly realised where Pam got it from. "I do have a full schedule this evening, so I should be grateful if you would state your case and get down to business."

"But of course, your Majesty," Victor replied unctuously. He went on to explain the reason for his visit, to congratulate Eric on his becoming King and to present a formal offering of alliance from the King of Nevada. The King, it seemed, had a number of proposals to discuss with Eric in terms of the vampire-related tourist trade; Louisiana and Nevada being, by all accounts, the two kingdoms that had benefited most from the Great Revelation in terms of the tourist dollar. Eric discussed revenue projections and future undertakings with Victor with an easy confidence. I felt myself breathe an internal sigh of relief; clearly Pam had been an excellent teacher.

"My master is planning to hold a small summit of tourist kingdoms in Las Vegas in two weeks' time. He would be honoured if you could attend. The Kings of California and Florida and the Queen of New York will also be in attendance, as will some representatives from the Pacific Northwest. You have some history with the Queen, I understand?" Victor enquired.

Eric hesitated for a second and I could feel his uncertainty. Shit. Tension seemed to seep into the room. I tried to keep calm; I knew that the Vegas vamps would be able to sense my anxiety.

After a pause, Pam interjected with a drawl. "His Majesty and I spent a number of years in New York shortly after I was turned. His relations with Queen Alexandria have remained cordial through the passing decades."

"I see," Victor nodded, turning to face Pam with a slightly bemused expression.

"Please tell your master that I would be happy to attend his gathering. You can liaise with Pamela to make all the necessary arrangements," Eric said firmly, bringing Victor's attention back to him.

Victor thanked Eric with a creepy smile and both he and Giselle stood to go. As he turned to leave, Victor's eyes glanced over me and then he turned his head to address Eric. "Of course you must bring your human to Las Vegas, your Majesty. The King of Nevada will be simply fascinated to meet her."

Eric nodded with a small frown and Pam ushered them out of the room as Giselle tinkled a promise to Eric to "catch up on old times" when he got to Nevada. I didn't have it in me to be jealous, I was just glad we made it through the meeting in one piece.

Once the door was closed, Eric came over to me and perched on the sofa, taking me in his arms. I relaxed into them with a sigh.

"I think that went as well as could have been expected?" I offered as Pam skulked back into the office confirming that they were indeed gone.

"I believe Victor suspects something is not quite right," Eric said with a frown, as Pam nodded in agreement, "but thankfully not with enough certainty to make a move."

"But now he has an interest in Sookie," Pam said, trying to keep the I-told-you-so out of her voice but failing fairly miserably.

Eric nodded solemnly.

Pam's cell phone rang again, effectively halting the discussions, and she answered in her usual abrupt tone.

"I see," she hummed and Eric looked at me. "Yes, we will meet you there at first dark tomorrow night." She hung up and I looked at her questioningly, being the only one in the room without superhuman hearing.

"They've found her," she declared with a wicked smile. "Alcide's pack has found the witch."

**A/N: So, what did you think? I'm really close to 400 reviews – c'mon, you know what to do!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Well, pandering for reviews seems to be the way to go! So many lovely comments for the last chapter and lots of new readers have added me to your alerts and favourites – welcome! You guys really are AMAZING. I just want to say a massive thank you to you all – I'm just blown away by all your support.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters – I just kidnap them and chop their heads off on occasion.**

The next evening as I waited for Eric to get out of the shower, I was full of nervous energy, excited but terrified about what tonight would hold for us. He came into the living room, hair still wet, in a black t-shirt and Jason's work jeans. I laughed when I saw them.

"Pam will go ape shit when she sees those jeans," I teased.

He kissed my forehead and gave me a wry smile. "That, lover, is the main reason I'm wearing them." Sitting down next to me on the couch, he pulled me into his lap.

"How was your day?" he asked.

I sighed into him, resting my head on his chest. "Work was deathly boring. But considering the excitement of last night, I think that's probably a good thing." He lifted my chin with his finger, giving me a heated look and my teeth grazed my lip in expectation. "I, um, saw Jason for a while and Amelia and Octavia came in for lunch. Actually we need to pick them up soon..."

"Umm-hmm," he murmured, running his nose along my jawline and kissing the sensitive part behind my ear. I shivered in response.

"Um Eric? I've been thinking," I ventured.

"Yes," he said, sending vibrations across my skin as he continued to kiss down my collarbone.

"I think you should take some more of my blood. You need your strength, there's bound to be a fight tonight."

He stopped his attentions and looked at me again, eyes intense. "Sookie, last time..."

"Yes, I know I freaked last time but, well, I've been thinking about it and I'm going to have to get used to it again at some point. My boyfriend _is_ a vampire after all..."

"Sookie, I would never..." he interrupted.

I shushed him. "I want to do this Eric. Plus that time, it just hurt so much because it was all about the bite. It wouldn't hurt at all if I were turned on..." Eric's eyes shot to mine, his eyes dark with lust. "Don't get too excited," I giggled, "we don't have _that_ much time..."

He smiled at me and then resumed kissing me, peppering feather-light kisses down down my neck. He swept his hands along my sides, grazing the outline of my breasts, making me arch into him, pleading for more contact. In one fluid move, he had pulled my tank top off, pushing me down underneath him. He placed open-mouthed kisses along my collarbone, blowing cold air along the trail he left, making me shiver with want. His hands continued to stroke my body tortuously as he pulled the cups of my bra down, leaving me exposed but avoiding all the places I really wanted him to touch.

"Please Eric," I groaned into his hair.

His hand skirted lower to graze the waistband of my jeans and then he slowly began to unbutton them. At the same time he took my nipple in his mouth, pulling it between his lips, gently scraping my breast with the tips of his fangs. His hands slipped lower into my panties and I raised my hips into him, impatient for contact. He skimmed my clit with his finger and let out a small groan when he realised how wet I was for him.

"Eric," I pleaded again, writhing into his hand, as he began to apply pressure to my clit, again and again, all the while devouring my breasts with his mouth. Intense waves of pleasure began to roll through my body and I knew I was close. "Now Eric," I moaned, arching into him. He complied, sinking his fangs into my breast. I had momentary flash of panic at the sting of his fangs but that passed as soon as he began drawing blood, seemingly straight from my core, triggering the most exquisite release. I screamed his name as he drew on the wound one last time before withdrawing and licking the marks gently to seal them.

After I had had a moment to regain my senses, he kissed me tenderly for a while and then got up off the couch. "Where are you going?" I whined, instantly missing the pressure of his body on mine.

"We have to go," he sighed.

I nodded and sitting myself up, began to look around for my top. "I guess you have a witch to kill," I said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Yes," he agreed. "But we will most definitely be picking this up later..." he added with a smirk.

0-0-0-0-0

Eric had insisted on driving, even though it was my car. I was used to his speed by now but, by the time we got to Shreveport, Octavia looked like she was going to be sick. We pulled up outside the address Pam had given us, a dingy-looking bar on the outskirts of town called The Silver Bullet. As soon as we approached the front door Eric crinkled up his nose as if he'd stepped in something nasty. It didn't take a brain surgeon to work out that this was a Werewolf bar.

We entered main bar to find that Pam was already there with Chow, Maxwell Lee and Thalia. They were standing to one side of the room, all looking various degrees of bored. Alcide stood on the other side of the room talking in a low voice to a white-haired man in his late fifties. Four others I'd never met before stood in the periphery taking in their conversation. I could tell from their brain signatures that they were all Weres.

Alcide saw me come in and gave me a big grin, bounding over to me and enveloping me in a huge hug. I heard a low growl emanate from Eric who was standing beside me and felt a flare of jealousy through the bond. Once Alcide released me, I shot Eric a warning glance; this was not the time for him to be calling "mine". Alcide gave Eric a curious look and then made his way to say hello to Amelia as I went to greet Pam and the other vamps.

After a minute Alcide took my arm and directed me towards the Were pack with Eric following a few steps behind. "Sookie Stackhouse," he gestured to the white-haired man, "this is Colonel John Flood, my pack master."

Colonel Flood introduced the other Weres, gesturing to a tall intense-looking woman with red hair and a pretty caramel-skinned girl with dark ringlets. "This is Amanda and Maria-Star," he said gruffly and then pointed to the other two huge men standing behind them off to the left, "and that is Patrick and Devon." I smiled at them all, eliciting a nod from each of the men and a broad smile in return from Maria-Star. Amanda glared at me, face impassive. Her thoughts were fuzzy but I managed to pick out the word "fangbanger" and an overall feeling of aggression. Clearly she wasn't my biggest fan and I wondered briefly if she had taken exception to Alcide's hug as well.

"Pleased to meet you," I said to Colonel Flood with a polite smile.

"I've heard a lot about you," Colonel Flood replied, his tone serious but not unkind. "Northman," he said acknowledging Eric, who nodded in reply. He obviously had no clue who Colonel Flood was but I wasn't sure if the pack master knew that or not.

Pam called everyone to gather round and explained the plan. The Weres had located Hallow's base and we would mount a surprise attack. She made it clear that the objective was to take down Hallow. "Dead or alive, it doesn't matter. The rest of her followers are fair game as well," she cooed.

Amanda growled at Pam, edging towards her. "Easy for you to say, those are Weres in there, not vampires." Pam stood her ground, looking impassively at Amanda, not even raising an eyebrow.

"Stand down, Amanda," Colonel Flood snapped. "They are Weres jacked up on witchcraft and vampire blood. They are as much a threat to my people as they are to Northman's. They need to be stopped." Amanda bowed her head, as if submitting her pack master.

"Glad we cleared that up," Pam added with a dismissive wave of her hand. She went on to introduce Amelia and Octavia to the Weres. "Anything to add ladies?" she asked.

Amelia looked to Octavia and the old woman spoke. "We'll be able to create a diversion as you enter. Fill the room with smoke. It'll give the vampires an initial advantage because they don't have to breathe." She turned to Colonel Flood. "You and your Weres should be fine once you've shifted but it should take the others by surprise."

There were murmurs of approval and I noticed even Chow had nodded his head.

"Also, you should all be aware that a witch's power is in his or her ability to perform spells, incantations. Take away their ability to say the words and you take away their power..."

"Go for the throat or the mouth then?" Pam clarified. Octavia nodded. "Good to know."

0-0-0-0-0

We approached a small industrial park on the outskirts of Shreveport. Pam had given each car instructions as to where to park so as to keep our presence concealed. Eric, Amelia, Octavia and I pulled up in a derelict gas station, a short walk away from Hallow's location. Eric grabbed my hand as we got out of the car and we all walked to the rendezvous point in silence.

The others were waiting for us as we arrived, assembled in a car park opposite a small electrical goods warehouse that had been long since abandoned. I could feel the tension vibrating through our group, the Weres particularly were pacing back and forth in anticipation of a good fight, and there was a funny smell in the air. I sniffed cautiously and looked at Amelia confused; it smelt like burnt  
biscuits.

"Magic," she whispered with a small smile as Octavia nodded in agreement. "Lots and lots of magic."

"Sookie," Pam whispered diverting my attention from the witches, "we need you to tell us how many of them are in there."

I nodded, letting down my shields and focussing on the warehouse. Nothing.

I let go of Eric's hand and tried a second time. Still zilch.

"I can't pick up anything Pam," I whispered, frustrated.

"Vampires?" Pam replied, raising an eyebrow but looking slightly concerned.

"No, not voids," I confirmed with a sigh. "It's as if something is blocking my telepathy. I can pick up everyone in our group but nothing inside the warehouse."

"There's some kind of protection spell around that warehouse," Octavia disclosed. "I think Amelia and I need to weaken it before Sookie can do her thing, before any of you can get in there without alerting them we're outside."

"Do it," Pam agreed with a nod.

Amelia pulled some supplies out of a large bag, laying out a small raffia mat on the ground. She and Octavia sat on the mat and Amelia unscrewed a container of what looked to be salt crystals, pouring it beside and behind her to make a neat semi-circle. She handed the container to Octavia who did the same, effectively enclosing them both in a completed circle of salt.

Everyone turned to watch them; the Weres stood still, looking on with interest. I glanced nervously at Chow but even he seemed transfixed as Amelia and Octavia linked hands and began to chant, voices at a whisper. After a minute or two Eric tugged at my arm and gestured with his head towards the warehouse.

It was incredible, almost as if I could discern a sheer film, a hidden barrier, surrounding the building. As I concentrated more on the building I could detect areas where the film was beginning to breach and I walked towards one of them, looking back at Octavia who nodded at me reassuringly. I extended my arm to try first and then walked through to the other side of the barrier, now only paces away from the warehouse walls. Almost immediately, I could detect a whole new set of fuzzy brain patterns.

I looked back towards the others with a triumphant smile, signalling the number eleven and then did a little claw sign to indicate that they were Weres. Pam and Eric looked at each other, clearly confused by my sub-standard signalling skills, but Alcide explained it to them giving me a little wink in the process.

In the moment I took to smile at Alcide, remembering our little joke at Merlotte's, I heard the thoughts of someone behind me. Before I could react, I felt something hard smash into the back of my skull. I called out to Eric but wasn't sure if any sound escaped my lips. Then everything blurred. I could feel myself falling, my body begin to shut down, and then black. Nothing but silence.

0-0-0-0-0

I don't know how long I was unconscious for but I came to with a groan, immediately coughing as I inhaled thick smoke into my lungs. I looked around me, completely disorientated, I couldn't see much through the smoke but I was lying on a cold concrete floor and I could hear fighting around me. I gingerly probed the bump at the back of my head, feeling dried blood, and winced with pain as my vision blurred again.

That was going to need stitches.

I stayed down trying to breathe underneath the smoke, using my tank top as a makeshift gas mask. I felt dizzy and nauseous, pushing myself on my hands and knees, trying to find a corner to hide out away from the battle. I could see flashes of action near me; I couldn't make out who was fighting but I could tell some of the Weres had shifted. I tried to combine my telepathy and my normal hearing to focus on the conflict but Eric's emotions, his belligerence and thrill at the kill, were starting to overwhelm me.

As I crawled across the warehouse floor my hand made contact with a pool of something warm and sticky and I slipped for a second, losing my balance. My head was pounding as panic took over. I desperately tried to avert my eyes but I could smell the blood and feel it as it seeped into my clothing.

The smoke must have hit the sprinklers at some point. I felt cold water drizzling down my back and then, slowly, the air began to clear a little. I could make out one of the warehouse walls and attempted to back into it as I surveyed the scene before me.

Taller than everyone else, the first person I saw was Eric, fighting in the centre of the room. Blood was smeared over his chin and chest but he looked unscathed and I noted, with relief, that the blood was probably someone else's. I watched as Eric lunged into the ground with his broadsword, letting out a strangled cry. At the same time, a huge rush of aggression pulsed through the bond forcing me forward onto my hands as bile rose in my throat. The smoke cleared around Eric's feet and I made out the shape of a naked man, one of Hallow's Were-witches.

Around Eric similar scenes were unfolding, I saw Thalia and Maxwell Lee fighting a large black wolf. Another wolf bounded past that I thought might be Alcide but I couldn't tell for sure. Pam was clinging to the back of one of the witches, who hadn't had the chance to fully shift. The witch had sunk her teeth into Pam's arm and but Pam wouldn't release her hold. Pam let out a chilling scream as she swiftly ran a dagger across the witch's throat as she began to change, severing the witch's head as they both slumped down to the floor in a pool of blood.

I scanned the room searching for Hallow, my eyes settling on a tall woman towards the back of the room. I watched as she plunged a steel rod into the body of a wolf, flinging the wolf into the wall with seemingly little effort. The Were slammed into the wall with a yelp and, as it began to turn back into human form, I gasped, recognising it to be Amanda.

"Eric," I screamed, hardly audible over the tumult, "over there." I pointed to Hallow as she looked up and caught my eye. "That's her."

Eric nodded pulling his sword free of the Were he had dispatched and wiping the blood on the leg of his jeans. He stalked through the smoke in the direction of Hallow and, rising to my knees, I braced myself for another onslaught of violent emotion. As Eric approached, Hallow turned to face him, raising her arm up towards him. In an instant he was slammed into the nearby wall like a child's rag doll, his sword clattering as it hit the concrete floor. I screamed through my tears as I felt his pain flood into me as if it was my own. Eric was struggling against the force of her spell but she continued to invoke her magic and he remained pinioned against the wall unable to move. I scrambled to my feet, trying to make my way towards him, almost crippled by the agony I was feeling from Eric. I screamed at Hallow through my tears and her attention shifted fleetingly from Eric to me as she focussed on me with cold eyes.

Eric took that moment to act; hauling himself away from the wall with a roar and lunging, heavy-limbed, for Hallow's throat, tearing at her neck. The spell stopped almost immediately as Hallow began to struggle against him and they both fell to the ground. Eric straddled atop of the witch and continued to drink her as Hallow's body ceased to fight and slowly went limp underneath him. I ran to him, desperately trying to pull him off of her.

"Stop Eric," I screamed, tugging at his shoulders. "You can't drain her. We need her blood for the reversal spell."

He looked at me eyes wild and glassy and for a second I didn't recognise him as either of the Erics that I knew. After a moment's hesitation, he seemed to regain control of himself, nodding at me soberly as he relinquished his grip on Hallow's lifeless body.

I looked around us and the battle seemed to be coming to an end. As the Weres began to shift back into their human form, I let out a sigh of relief; it looked like we had won. The rest of Alcide's pack seemed to have made it through the fight, although Colonel Flood looked fairly badly injured and was being propped up by a naked Devon. Maria-Star and Alcide were crouched down by Amanda's body, hugging each other in grief.

Pam strode over towards us, looking fairly pristine given the circumstances and I did a quick count of the vampires. Chow was missing.

"Chow?" I asked softly as she approached.

"Gone," Pam said grimly. I nodded trying to process. I guess he was right to be as wary of witches as he was. "We need to get her blood to Amelia," she continued, gesturing at Hallow.

Eric pulled himself up and picked up Hallow's body. Taking a second to steel his resolve, he nodded at us both and then, hauling the body over his shoulder, walked towards the exit. Alcide had Amanda in his arms as Thalia and Maxwell Lee began kicking the bodies that remained into a pile in the centre of the warehouse.

I was still moving slowly due to my bump on the head but Pam walked alongside me, arm around my shoulder, keeping me steady. Most of the Weres were gone by the time we made it over to Amelia and Octavia, only Alcide had stayed. My witches were still in their circle and Eric had placed Hallow's body on the ground alongside them. In between their knees was a small metal chalice filled with eucalyptus leaves and a strange-looking herb. Octavia reached across and grabbed Hallow's wrist, using a small knife to cut across her vein, trickling blood into the cup, whispering some kind of incantation as she did so. Using her thumb next, she smeared a small drop of the blood onto Amelia's, and then her own, forehead.

They joined hands again and this time the chant was louder. Amelia closed her eyes with a slight grimace, as if finding strength to wield the power that was flowing through her. Octavia stayed focussed straight ahead, gripping Amelia's hands in support, keeping her steady. I held my breath, hoping that this dark magic could be controlled, that I hadn't endangered my friend. I left Pam's side and went to Eric placing my hand in his as we watched, nervous anticipation coursing back and forth through the bond.

I felt the spell lift as soon as it happened, Eric gripped my hand roughly at the same time as I felt I rush of emotion through the bond that knocked me to my knees. I cried out as Eric sunk down beside me, hands grabbing either side of my face.

"Sookie?" he asked, concern permeating his voice.

"I'm alright," I murmured dizzily. "That was a little intense."

"Yes it was," he smiled, rubbing his thumb gently across my cheek.

Realisation hit me then. "Oh my God Eric, can you…?" I asked, eyes wide with hope.

"Yes," he nodded with a huge grin.

"Everything?"

"Everything," he confirmed with a firm nod, drawing me into his arms. He pulled me in for a kiss, running his fingers through my hair and I winced as pain seared through my scalp.

"What is it?" he asked.

"My head," I replied, twisting my neck to show him. "What with being whacked by a blunt instrument and you not remembering how to dampen down the bond, I could do with a couple hundred Tylenol."

He bit his thumb, gently dabbing his blood into my wound, alleviating the pain, and I instantly felt better. "I'm sorry about the bond, I didn't remember how…" he whispered, ghosting a gentle kiss across my nose.

"It wasn't your fault," I said soothingly, brushing his hair from his eye. "All that matters is that I have you back." I pressed my lips to his and he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss, as happiness flooded through my aching limbs, golden and warm.

We were interrupted by the sound of a sarcastic vampire clearing her throat. "Well doesn't this sight just warm the cockles of my heart," Pam drawled with a sly smile.

"You don't have a heart Pam, remember?" I joked, getting to my feet with a groan.

"Nor do I have any cockles," she trilled. "I do, however, have better things to do with my evening than sit in an abandoned parking lot watching you two make out."

Eric went up to Pam and put a large arm around her shoulders. "Thank you," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. She nodded at him, a little embarrassed at his display of affection. "And thank you all," he said nodding to Amelia, Octavia and Alcide, "I am in your debt."

I noticed then that Maxwell Lee had taken Hallow's body back to the warehouse. Thalia looked to Eric for the order. "Burn it," he confirmed, back to being the voice of authority, and she nodded with a fangy smile.

"So," I asked, pulling him in to me for another kiss, "what do we do now your Majesty?"

"Well, I, for one, would enjoy a shower and to get out of these clothes," he replied looking down distastefully at Jason's work jeans, which were now covered in blood along with everything else.

"And then?" I asked coyly, looking at him from under my lashes.

"Well I am _me_ again, after all, so you know what that means?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"No more detention with headmistress Pam?" I joked, biting my lip flirtatiously.

He smiled at me then. My Eric. He was back and I was blissfully happy in that moment.

"No detention lover," he said with a wink, "but if you play your cards right, I think a spanking may still be in order…"

**A/N: So please leave me some review love if you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to a trip to Vegas...**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: As usual thank you for all your kind reviews and alerts. You are all so amazing and I'm truly grateful.**

**This is a pretty long chapter but it's one of my faves so far...**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

I spent the drive home stealing quick glances at Eric. He was back and I was in a complete state of bliss. He looked intently at the road as he sped along but his hand was on my knee as his thumb stroked my knee absent-mindedly, the smallest touch sending impulses straight to my core. As we stopped at some lights, he looked across at me with a knowing smile and I realised then how much

I had missed the real him. Every smirk, every tease, everything that made him mine.

Pam had offered, or rather acquiesced after a stern look from Eric, to take Octavia and Amelia back to Bon Temps, so we were alone in the car as it pulled up outside his house. Fuelled by adrenaline, I decided it was time to play a little. We both need a little fun after the events of the last few days. I shifted in my seat to face him and leaned over slowly, placing one hand on his knee. He eyed me cautiously but I could see the corner of his mouth begin to turn up into a smirk.

"So spanking, huh? Is that something you want to do to me?" I teased playfully.

I felt his body stiffen slightly as he turned to face me with a leer, his lips dangerously close to mine. His fangs were down and I could feel his cool breath on my skin. "Sookie, I want to do _everything_ to you," he replied, voice low, tucking a strand of hair gently behind my ear.

The temperature in the car seemed to soar instantly and somehow the tone of this conversation had gone from playful to intense in seconds. Eric's eyes were blazing at me and I couldn't even make eye contact with him as I murmured my reply. "I know how you feel. I want you to show me it all. I want to try everything with you. I've never felt like this before with anyone…" I felt my insides clench with heat at my revelation but I knew it was true.

Eric lifted my chin with his finger, raising my eyes to his and then nodded. He leaned forward slightly and I expected him to kiss me but instead he unbuckled my seatbelt. His nose nuzzled into my hair as he paused at my neck to inhale my scent and then put his mouth to my ear. "Let's go inside," he said quickly, firmly, pulling away from me and exiting the car in one graceful fluid movement. He was around to my side of the car before I could open the door and he lifted me out gently and carried me into the house.

I was suddenly very nervous. Never tease a horny vampire, I chided myself. What was he going to do? Would it hurt? I'd never done anything remotely like this before. Or at least I thought I hadn't. My thoughts briefly flitted to Bill before I buried them away for another time.

"We will do everything and anything you want, Sookie," Eric smiled while placing me gently on the bed. "But not tonight," he added with a smile. "It's not the right moment. You are tired and injured. Tonight I am going to care for you like you have been caring for me."

I felt a jolt of disappointment run through me, despite my nerves, which Eric immediately picked up on. "Don't worry lover," he added with a lascivious smile, pulling my dirty tank top over my head and unhooking my bra. "I still have a little game in mind for us."

Eric proceeded to slowly divest me of the rest of my dirty clothes until I was laid out on his huge bed, totally exposed. His eyes raked over my naked body as I shifted on the bed a little, yearning to be touched.

"Stay where you are, lover," Eric growled, voice commanding. "Do not move."

He left the room returning, a couple of minutes later, with a large bowl in his hand. He'd taken off his blood-stained shirt and cleaned up a little, pulling his hair back into a fresh ponytail. I suddenly felt very grimy in comparison. Along with a folded white wash cloth, Eric placed the bowl gently on the bedside table. The bowl was full of steaming scented water. I inhaled gently. Vanilla.

"This," he said gesturing to the bowl with a soft smile, "is the caring part of the game. And these," he added sexily, pulling out two patterned silk scarves from the back pocket of his jeans, "are the fun part…" Oh my.

"Put your hands above your head," Eric ordered, voice low. I complied immediately with a flirty smile. Normally I hated it when Eric was bossy and high-handed but right now it was turning me into liquid lust.

Deftly, Eric bound my hands together with one of the scarves, hooking it around the bedpost. I pulled slightly, testing my restraints; it wasn't uncomfortable but I could hardly move. Eric looked at me with a knowing grin that would have melted my panties, if I'd had any on, and ran his index finger along my cheek, down over my chest, stopping at my navel. I arched into his touch, every nerve ending under my skin starting to hum from the slightest contact. Eric reached for the other scarf and looked at me hungrily.

"What's that for?" I asked, voice full of excitement and just a tinge of nerves.

"This will make everything you feel more intense," he murmured with a fleeting smile.

Eric folded the scarf into a blindfold and tied it behind my head. Gently laying my head back on the pillow, he placed a brief chaste kiss on my lips and I instantly realised what he meant. Every other sense was intensified and I could feel so much more as his skin glanced across mine.

As he made his way to the end of the bed, I felt the mattress move as he sat between my legs. I shifted my position anxiously as I heard him dip the cloth into the bowl and ring out any excess water. My breathing hitched in anticipation as I waited for his next move.

Gently he lifted my right leg and ran the wash cloth along the bridge of my foot. The cloth was hot and rough against my bare skin and I flinched at the contact, squirming slightly from the ticklish feeling it gave me. Eric held me still and then, when I had calmed, began to plant cool soft kisses along the inside of my foot, following the path of the cloth.

He dipped the cloth into the water again, this time running it up my lower leg from ankle to knee, again following the cloth with gentle kisses of his own. The sensation of the warm friction of the cloth, followed by Eric's cool mouth, made my body writhe as he moved higher and higher up the inside of each leg to the apex of my thighs. He mirrored these actions across my navel and from my hips up my sides to the tips of my fingers but neglecting all the important areas of my body that, by now, were screaming to be touched.

Finally, I felt the cloth rub underneath my left breast and swirl roughly around my nipple and I lifted away from the bed at the contact, pulling at the scarf round my wrists.

"Please Eric," I moaned greedily. "More…"

I felt him smile into my skin as he followed the path of the cloth with his mouth, scraping his fangs across my sensitive nipple, pulling and elongating it with his lips. He repeated the process on the other breast and I thought I might explode with need.

"More…" I rasped as he dragged the cloth slowly down my stomach, further still between my legs, following the path with his mouth.

As he finally ran his tongue between my legs, I shuddered forcefully, and he let out a small groan.

"Jesus Sookie, you are so wet."

"Please Eric," I gasped, bucking wantonly against him. "I want you. Inside me. Please."

He swirled his tongue around my clit one last time and then I felt his weight move off the bed as he removed his jeans. I pulled at my restraints desperate to touch him again and then he was on me, pushing into me, slowly filling me at a pace that made me plead with him to go faster, harder. He gave me second to adjust to his size and then he complied, pounding into me, lifting my legs around his hips, burying himself inside me.

I smelt his blood as he lifted his open wrist to my mouth and lapped greedily as his blood trickled languidly down my throat. I was over the edge in seconds, feeling everything more intensely, revelling in the bond. Seconds later I felt the delectable sting of Eric's fangs in my neck prolonging my release, as Eric began to convulse inside me, coming hard with a loud groan.

Eric kissed my forehead gently as he removed the scarves around my eyes and wrists. "That was, just, yum," I said, rubbing my wrists as I snuggled into Eric.

"It certainly was," Eric agreed with a grin, pulling me into his chest. He stroked my hair, softly, running his fingers to check my head where I had been attacked.

"I was so worried," he confessed quietly. "One minute you were there smiling at us and the next minute you were slumped on the floor being dragged into the warehouse."

"Shhh, I'm fine now," I reassured him, stroking my fingers across his chest.

"Thank God for the bond, is all I can say."

"The bond?" I asked, slightly confused.

"I knew you were alive," he acknowledged with a sigh. "I stormed into the warehouse determined to make them pay but I knew you were alive." He pulled me tighter into his arms whispering into my hair, so softly, I could barely hear. "I won't lose you."

0-0-0-0-0

I awoke the next day, slightly disorientated in a pitch black room. I shifted slightly, realising that I was in Eric's huge bed with the leaden undead arm of a Viking vampire draped lazily over my middle. My eyes began to adjust, no doubt helped along with a healthy dose of vampire blood, and there was a small glow on the bedside table from the alarm clock. It was two thirty in the afternoon.

I eased myself out from the bed, deliciously sore in all the right places, although I noted, feeling the back of my scalp, that the gash to my head had totally healed.

I showered quickly and washed my hair, pulling on a cotton vest-top and some boyshorts. There wasn't much point getting fully dressed. I was only going to be hanging around the house and, let's face it, Eric would be up soon and I'd probably be getting undressed again pretty quickly. After a quick call to update Gran on my plans and check on my witches, I poured myself a large bowl of cereal. I sat cross-legged on Eric's huge couch, wolfing it down as I flicked through the TV channels, eventually settling on CNN.

The big news of the day was that the Vampire Rights Act had been passed. The correspondent was reporting outside a chapel in Vermont where preparations were being made for the first legal vampire human marriage at sundown today and, not for the first time, I marvelled at the fact that I had done it all before it was even legislated for. I smiled to myself; Eric and Pam were now full legal tax-paying citizens and that was cause to celebrate if ever there was. Well, I don't suppose they'd be that overjoyed at the tax-paying part but it did mean that I could transfer the bars back to them now with no fear of repercussion.

I pottered around Eric's house for the rest of the day, reading for a bit, watching TV. At some point I must have fallen asleep on Eric's couch because I was suddenly awoken by a huge vampire sidling onto the couch behind me.

"Eric?" I smiled sleepily, stretching out against his body.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said with regret, "I thought we could snuggle for a bit before Pam gets here."

That woke me up. "Pam's coming?" I asked with surprise. This was news to me.

"Yes. I am afraid I have to go into Fangtasia tonight. Stamp my authority back on bar and kingdom business, catch up on outstanding matters that cropped up while I was… out of circulation. Pam has offered to take you shopping. You're going to need a fair bit of stuff for Vegas. Some evening wear, that kind of thing…"

He held me to him, burying his face into my neck. I could tell through the bond that he was cautious, waiting to see how I would react. Part of me wanted to tell him off for being so overbearing but the other part, the dominant part, was still so glad that Eric was back to his old ways, it didn't really matter. In any case, I did need to go shopping at some point and Pam would be a much better judge on what I'd need for vampire summit.

"Okay," I sighed, pulling myself out of his iron grip. "But if we're expecting visitors, I need to get dressed. That means no time for snuggling, or anything else for that matter."

Eric frowned irritably for a second. "Fine," he finally conceded.

"Okay then," I agreed, placing a quick peck on his forehead and running up the stairs to get dressed.

0-0-0-0-0

Pam and I were scouring through the racks of a designer boutique in Shreveport, which by all accounts stayed open late for Pam at her request. I had three dresses in my pile, waiting to be tried on; Pam had about twenty.

She pulled another dress off the rack, a pale blue cocktail dress and held it up to her neck in front of a long mirror. "So I saw on the news that the Vampire Rights Act has passed…" she remarked casually, fingering the beadwork on the dress with a small frown.

"Yes, I forgot to say Pam. Congratulations, you are now officially a U.S. citizen."

"Lucky me," she replied drolly turning back to look at herself. She tilted her head to one side and smiled, "Of course, the most interesting thing to come out of these new laws is that vampires and humans can now marry…"

Shit. I tried hard not to blush, guessing where she was going with this. "It's really lovely of you to offer Pam, but I don't think Eric would approve if we eloped," I replied facetiously.

Pam narrowed her eyes at me. "Come, come, Sookie, you can't fool me. You're a traditional girl at heart. Don't pretend you haven't thought about what this means for you and Eric."

Of course I had but I really didn't want to discuss this now, or ever really, with Pam.

"Not really Pam. You forget I've already been married to one vampire and that didn't exactly end well," I snapped. "Amelia, on the other hand, has never been married. Why don't you ask her if you're so desperate to further Area 5's vampire/human relations?"

She coolly picked another dress off the rack, a stunning pale peach evening dress, and lifted it up in front of her.

"Obviously, for me it will always be vampires first…" She looked at me with a smirk and I had to smile at that because, please, who was she kidding? "But, if you are going to be hanging around with us for a while… I would like to plan a bridal shower. I've read all about them in Dear Abby and you are my closest human friend."

"I'm your _only_ human friend Pam," I replied exasperated. "And that's not exactly a stellar reason to get married is it?"

"Me thinks the telepath is protesting a little too much," Pam teased as she inspected the label on the gown.

"Pam, please," I pleaded with a sigh.

She shrugged off-handedly. "Fine, I'll be quiet. For now. Here," she said, handing me the dress, "this is your size and will look better with your tan."

"Fine," I said, grabbing the dress and heading to the fitting room, grateful this excruciating conversation was over. For now.

0-0-0-0-0

The next week or so flew by and it was soon time for us to go to the Nevada summit. Eric had decided that, as his second, Pam should stay in Louisiana and effectively govern in his absence. I was a little disappointed not to have her there with me for moral support but she had started making pointed remarks about marriage at almost every opportunity, sometimes even in front of Eric, so it was probably better this way. Eric chose instead to bring along Rasul, the new Sheriff of New Orleans, and Maxwell Lee and Thalia for security. He had also arranged for Patrick and Devon from Alcide's pack to meet us in Vegas. Ostensibly, this was to guard his royal person during the day while in a foreign territory but I wondered how much of it was really Eric's way of keeping a high-handed eye on me.

We were scheduled to leave for Nevada about an hour before sundown. Eric had gone to rest in what he termed "his travel coffin", a large fibreglass light-tight box that looked like something you'd put on top of the car to store surfboards. I sat in the living room, one hand absent-mindedly stroking the box, as I waited for the Anubis Air representatives to come and collect us. As they loaded Eric into the back of the vehicle, I noticed that there were three other travel coffins already in the back. I assumed it was Rasul, Thalia and Maxwell Lee.

There really were days when dating a vampire was just too surreal for words.

Eric and the others all rose about half an hour after the flight took off. The air stewardess immediately came out with bottles of TruBlood, handing them out to the hungry vampires, much to my relief. Maxwell Lee and Thalia both nodded to me, before bowing to Eric and taking their bloods to the back of the plane. Rasul, however, came and sat with us. I liked him instantly; he was laid-back and flirty, though never over-stepping the mark, with a sharp sense of humour. He actually reminded me a lot of Pam and I could see why Eric had chosen him as Sheriff.

Rasul told me that, although he had been turned centuries ago in what is now Syria, he had spent a lot of time in Las Vegas in the 1950s, running one of the casinos. He regaled me with stories of Sinatra and Dean Martin and I hooted with laughter at all his charming anecdotes as Eric looked on, bemusement evident on his face.

I'd been to Vegas once before, on a road trip with Tara and J.B. after we left high school, but it seemed even bigger and brighter this time around as we drove up the Strip in the limo. I looked out of the window taking it all in with a sense of wonder.

The Incubus casino dominated the northern end of the Strip, an intimidating black Gothic structure illuminated by red and silver spotlights. Huge red water fountains gushed in the elaborate night gardens, spewing forth "blood" like the Bellagio after a massacre. Eric informed me that the Incubus had been here since before the Great Revelation, but the vampire "motif" was now less of a theme and more of a reality. The top three floors were completely light-tight and reserved for vampire guests. Apparently, we had a suite on the top floor, alongside the King of Nevada, Felipe de Castro, and all the other visiting monarchs.

I noticed there were crowds of people standing outside the front of the hotel and, as we approached, I saw that they were protesters, picketing the Incubus in response to the Vampire Rights Act.

"The chapel at the Incubus has hosted dozens of vampire/human marriages since the Act passed," Rasul explained with an infectious grin. "Some people aren't as happy about that as others."

"I'm surprised the King doesn't just glamour them all," I muttered as we pulled up. The malicious thoughts of all the protesters were knocking at my shields, trying to get into my head. I kept them out but it was draining me. There were so many.

Eric looked at me with concern as the casino security opened the limo door and ushered us into the huge Gothic foyer. I immediately felt the peace of entering a vampire establishment. "Let's go find our suite," Eric suggested taking me by the hand, "then you can rest a while before we have to meet the King."

0-0-0-0-0

Our audience with Felipe de Castro was scheduled for 2 a.m. I got myself ready, slipping into one of the cocktail dresses I had found with Pam. It was royal blue silk, simple and fitted with a ruffle over one shoulder. I had matching pumps and small gold clutch bag to complete the look. It looked sexy but classy, I hoped, a fitting combination for the human bonded of a Vampire King.

"Is this alright?" I asked Eric nervously, doing a little twirl in the seating area of our sumptuous suite.

"You look perfect," he said with a smile. "I'll be the envy of the summit," he joked. "They'll all be wanting to knock me off so they can steal my human."

"Judging by our last meeting with Victor Madden, that may not be far from the truth," I ventured with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed," Eric accepted. "But we shall manage his expectations tonight."

We made our way to the King's apartments as directed with Rasul and the others observing protocol and following a few paces behind Eric. We were ushered by de Castro's vampire guards into a large seating area, where about twenty vampires were milling around, sipping blood out of black champagne flutes.

There were a couple of humans seated in an area towards the back of the room. I read their minds quickly. Donors.

Victor Madden slithered towards us, materialising through the crowd, seemingly from out of nowhere. "Your majesty," he said, greeting Eric with a slight bow, "welcome to Nevada." He turned to me with a slimy smile. "Miss Stackhouse, you look as delicious as ever."

"Madden," Eric replied haughtily. He was in no mood for Victor's games tonight, I could feel his irritation through the bond.

The Vegas vamp led us through the mingling throng, as Eric nodded greetings to some of the vampires, leading us towards a seating area where two vampires were sitting side by side, deep in conversation. The male vampire was exceedingly good-looking. He reminded me a little of a young Jimmy Smits, with pale golden skin and long flowing black hair. He was dressed in what I could only describe as pirate chic; a white ruffled shirt was teamed black leather trousers and boots and he seemed to have some sort of extravagant cape draped over one shoulder. I managed to suppress my amusement; this had to be de Castro.

The woman was very small, more petite than even Sophie-Anne, but she had a presence about her that belied her power. Like her male counterpart, you could tell she'd had an olive complexion before she was turned. Her features were keen, striking but not pretty, and her hair was cut into an elegant dark bob. She looked me up and down with a careful gaze, giving nothing away.

Victor turned to Eric. "Your majesty, may I please introduce his royal highness Felipe de Castro, King of Nevada. I believe that you already know Queen Alexandria of New York," he added suggestively. "Master, this is Eric Northman, King of Louisiana."

"Your majesty. Thank you for inviting me to your kingdom," Eric replied formally.

"The pleasure is all mine," de Castro replied with a flamboyant bow. "And please call me Felipe."

"Lexi," Eric added with a smile to the Queen. "It's good to see you."

"It really is," she agreed with a warm smile. "God, how long has it been?"

"Nearly thirty years," Eric offered. "Pam and I came and stayed with you in '82 if I recall." I gave Victor a defiant glare at that. He flinched slightly and I could sense his disappointment.

The Queen feigned a shudder as if suddenly remembering the 80s and Eric laughed. I made myself an internal note to ask Pam for some photos of Eric back in the day.

"Felipe, Lexi, may I introduce my bonded, Miss Sookie Stackhouse." I managed a little curtsey, nodding politely at both monarchs. I'd really have to ask Eric to teach me what I was supposed to do in these situations.

"Meez Stackhouse," de Castro grabbed my hand and ghosted a kiss across my knuckles. He was smooth but not slimy like Victor. "I have heard a great deal about you but, I must say, the reports do not do you justice."

I bet they don't, I thought to myself, especially if they came from Giselle. As if by magic, I saw a flurry of red as the vampire in question made her way towards us, looking stunning in a deep burgundy cocktail dress and super high heels. "Eric," she squealed, jostling past me and ignoring me as expected. "You are finally here."

"Giselle," Eric said nodding at her curtly.

She linked her arm in his and twisted him away from me looking over towards the assembled vampires. "We have so much to catch up on and there are a number if people you need to meet. Come, come," she urged, pulling on his arm in the direction of the other guests. Felipe gave Eric a look that said _"you try and stop her,"_ and Eric followed her, still arm in arm, over to the others.

I looked after him, horror evident on my face. He left me. I was at a vampire summit in a room full of strangers and he fucking left me.

After a few minutes of awkward small talk, I managed to extricate myself from Felipe and the Queen with a shy smile and another curtsey and they immediately went back to their deep discussions. I looked around the room for Eric, bubbling with rage, and spotted him in the midst of a group of female vampires. He looked up briefly and smiled at me apologetically. I glared at him for a second and stomped off to find the others.

Rasul was talking to a pretty donor towards the back of the room but smiled at me warmly as I approached, dismissing her with a small nod. "Rasul, could you take me back to my suite please?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not sure Eric would approve..." he tried.

"Frankly Rasul, I couldn't give a rat's ass what Eric would approve of at this moment," I snapped quietly. "So please take me back or I'll go back myself."

"As you wish," he said with a bow and offered me his arm.

We walked back to suite in silence and as I put my key card in the door Rasul cleared his throat. "Don't think too badly of him, Sookie," he whispered. "Sometimes he must act like the Vampire King he is. To undermine that, is to risk us all."

"I know," I replied quietly, a solitary tea running down my cheek. "But it still hurts and it makes me feel worthless."

Rasul nodded compassionately and I let myself into the room. I crawled into bed alone and with a heavy heart, quiet tears streaming down my face until I fell asleep.

0-0-0-0-0

I awoke the next morning around eleven, my bladder crying out for attention. Eric had returned to the room at some point, managing to sneak an arm over me as I slept, and I shrugged out of his embrace like a petulant child. I was still fuming with him and knew I needed some time to myself to calm down. I got showered and dressed, thinking a day by the pool would be just what the doctor ordered, and headed down to breakfast, my grumbling stomach reminding me that while my head may be getting more and more used to vampire time, my stomach was still on catch-up. I said good morning to Devon and Patrick who were stood outside the door and Devon followed me down to the main casino lobby.

There was an elaborate buffet breakfast spread laid out in a room off the main foyer. Devon smiled at me, pulling a newspaper out from under his arm and indicating he'd be waiting on a sofa facing the entrance. Breakfast was open late to cater for human guests of the vampire clientèle but the room itself was small and there were only a limited number of tables set out, all crowded with bleary-eyed fangbangers.

I put my shields up immediately. I'd been to Fangtasia enough times to have a fairly good idea as to what they'd all be thinking about and I didn't need to hear that while I ate my breakfast.

I skipped the fruit and cereal and went straight for the hot options piling some bacon and scrambled eggs onto my plate and then making my way over to the sausage. Next to me, there was a man peering into the container holding grits. He had the metal lid in one hand and was looking at the food inside with a slight grimace.

"I'd avoid the grits if I were you," he said to me with a conspiratorial smile, "they look instant to me and they've definitely seen better days." He was a pleasant looking man, not too tall, with neat dark hair. He was dressed in jeans and a blue plaid shirt, refreshing in a room full of fangbangers, and his thick Texan accent immediately put me at ease.

I put my hand on my chest, feigning shock. "My goodness, my Grandmother would be horrified. I think I should write a letter of complaint on her behalf."

"We may have to start a campaign," he agreed with a friendly wink. "Start up the Society for the Protection of Grits in Nevada…" I nodded with a smile and he sauntered down the buffet table towards the drinks.

I did avoid the grits but piled some sausage and cornbread onto my plate before pouring myself a huge cup of coffee. When I got to then end of the line, I looked about the room hesitantly and I noticed blue plaid was doing the same. There was only one free table.

"We could share?" I suggested with a hopeful smile. I really didn't want to sit with any of the fangbangers. I made a mental note to order breakfast to the room tomorrow morning. Would Devon be reporting back to Eric that I was having breakfast with a strange man? Serves Eric right if he does, I yelled to myself indignantly. Yep, I was definitely still angry.

"That would be lovely," blue plaid agreed with a grin.

We wandered over to the table and, as I set down my breakfast, I introduced myself. "I'm Sookie Stackhouse by the way. Thanks so much for letting me share."

"You're quite welcome," he smirked, seemingly amused all of a sudden by some private joke. "It really is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Sookie. My name's Steve… Steve Newlin."

**A/N: Dun! Dun! Dun! You didn't think I'd forgotten about the FOTS did you? Of course not! Please review – as always, I'm anxious to hear your thoughts. **

**Just a couple of chapters left folks but I've still got a couple of plot turns up my sleeve – don't you worry. I might also do a couple of out-takes as well – an Eric/Sookie hanky-spanky one comes to mind and maybe one with Pam and Amelia… Let me know what you think. Is there anything you'd like to see?**

**One last thing, I'm putting together an entry for the 7 Deadly Sins Contest (see http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2426932/7DeadlySinsContest for details) but I need a beta. If there's anyone out there kind enough to help me out, please PM me.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: So this is the penultimate chapter of Lifting the Veil. Sorry for the longer than usual wait but it was quite a difficult chapter to write and took me FOR-EVER. The final one will be up sooner, a short epilogue for those of you who, like me, like everything wrapped up in a shiny bow.**

**I just want to say a massive thank you to all of you for reading and supporting this story. My first foray into fanfic has been an amazing experience and it's primarily because of the response I've received from you guys. So thank you. **

**As always, Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters. Patrick and Devon are mine but she can have them too if she wants…**

Steve Newlin and I dug into our breakfasts. We sat for a while in comfortable silence, until he leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his coffee, and finally broke it.

"So Sookie, what brings you to Las Vegas?" he asked.

"Oh, um, I'm here visiting some associates of my, uh, boyfriend," I replied, trying to keep things as vague as possible. He continued to look at me, as if expecting me to elaborate.

"How 'bout you Steve?" I asked, deflecting. If I was honest, I didn't really care about what he was doing in Vegas. I was still in a bad mood from last night and I just wanted to finish my breakfast and get to the pool. But I wasn't about to discuss Eric's business with a complete stranger and Gran had taught me nothing, if not manners.

"I'm here with my wife," he replied with a neutral smile.

"Your wife?" I asked, slightly surprised for some strange reason, and my eyes flicked to the wedding ring on his left hand. A plain silver band, or white gold maybe? "You're married to a vam…"

"Good Lord, no," Steve chuckled exaggeratedly. I don't know why he found that so funny; it was a fair assumption to make given that we were in a vampire hotel with a wedding chapel. "My wife's very human. In fact she tends to faint at the sight of blood, even those fountains had her all woozy…"

I gave him a tight smile and tucked into my eggs, keeping my eyes on my plate and hoping our foray into small talk was now over. I was grateful for the place to sit but I didn't want the accompanying chitchat; I wanted to wallow in peace.

"What is it that you do Sookie?" Clearly eating in peace was no longer an option.

"Uh, I'm a waitress in a bar in the small town where I live in Louisiana."

"Good Southern cookin'?" Steve inquired with smirk.

"Sure. I guess. The menu sure isn't fancy. Burgers, fried chicken, that sort of thing. But what it does, it does well. Um, the locals seem to like it anyway."

"I bet a girl as pretty as you makes great tips, huh?" I shifted in my seat, suddenly slightly uncomfortable. He still had his friendly smile fixed in place but that had come across as a bit creepy. Not knowing what to say, I smiled politely and went back to my eggs.

"So you said you were here to visit your boyfriend's associates, was it? Sounds ominous. Is that for business or pleasure?" What was it with the twenty questions? I was beginning to think there was something a little off about Steve. Or was it just me? No - he seemed pushy, rather than friendly, and there was a slight undertone to his questions.

"Definitely business," I replied warily. "And you?" I asked politely, faking a smile, trying to get the conversation off of the reason for my trip. "In Las Vegas for business or pleasure?"

He took the time to chew the final bite of his breakfast and then used his napkin to slowly wipe the sides of his mouth. He smiled at me, but it was a cold smile. He was faking this as much as I was and it made me uneasy. I lowered my shields, concentrating on him, trying to keep out the others in the room. He was thinking about what a whore I was, having sex with a dead man. His thoughts were vile and explicit and I immediately put my shields back up, dropping my fork in disgust, no doubt looking a little crazy in the process.

"Business or pleasure?" he repeated. "A little of both, Sookie. A little of both."

Fixing my fake grin in place, I looked behind me out into the lobby and gave Devon a look that told him I needed rescuing. Fast. Immediately taking the hint, he strode into the room and I made my excuses, garbling a quick goodbye to Steve.

"It really was a pleasure meeting you Sookie Stackhouse," he called out behind me as I hurried off, voice heavy with suggestion. I chill ran up my spine as I clung to Devon, making my way towards the pool, feeling slightly nauseous after my breakfast encounter.

0-0-0-0-0

Try as I might I couldn't relax by the pool, my thoughts kept reverting to my issues with Eric. In the end, I went back to my room, took a bath and waited for him to rise.

I was sat on the couch in the sitting area watching television when I felt him come in. He wandered over to me and kissed me on my forehead and then silently made his way over to the little microwave by the bar to warm himself a TruBlood. A little part of me was relieved; if he was hungry that probably meant that he didn't snack on any of the donors last night. I didn't really think he would, but then until last night I never thought he'd abandon me at a vampire summit either. I turned off the television, so we wouldn't be distracted and noticed that I wasn't getting anything from him through the bond. He'd blocked it off.

Eric immediately turned the television back on and turned the volume right up. I shouted at him in confusion over the din and he put a finger to his lips, and then pointed to his ear. Taking my hand he led me over to the balcony, having a quick look around before closing the glass doors behind us.

"Shit Eric," I asked astounded. "Are we being bugged?"

"I should imagine so," he said grimly. "It's what I would do if I were them."

I was incensed; putting people under surveillance was not normal behaviour and why hadn't he mentioned the possibility before? I knew this wasn't the time to bring up new issues though. We needed to discuss last night.

I looked at him, expectantly. I wasn't anticipating an apology as such, that wasn't very Eric after all. But an explanation? Hell yes.

"You are unhappy with me," he said softly. It wasn't a question.

"Can you blame me Eric?" I asked. "What were you thinking last night? You think I'm at such risk here in Vegas that you have Weres following me to breakfast and then we're in the middle of a goddamn vampire party and you desert me."

He frowned as if concentrating on something difficult, a confusing puzzle. "There was no way anyone would have tried anything against you in that room," he stated, evenly. "Not only would it have shamed De Castro for one of his guests to be harmed in his presence, it would have been a public declaration of war against Louisiana by the perpetrator because you are _mine_. In any case, Thalia, Rasul and Maxwell Lee were instructed to watch you at any time I could not. I was always in the same room as you, I could always feel your emotions. There was never any danger. Surely, by now you know that your safety is my primary concern?"

"Fine, I wasn't in that much danger," I conceded. "But that's not really what upset me and you know it. You treated me like a fangbanger last night. Embarrassment at being ditched aside, by running off with Giselle and her cronies you acted like I was nothing to you but a blood bag that you'd bought to the party." I sighed. "Look I know that in your world that I'm a _mere human_." I gave him some finger quotes for emphasis and immediately felt a little silly. "I know that you can't be seen to be too soft around me or it somehow makes you less regal or some shit like that… but it hurts Eric. You hurt me last night more than you'll know. I think we can get past this but after all we've been through together, I think I deserve better from you than I got last night."

He sighed, moving next to me and running his hand through his hair. Feelings started to trickle back through the bond, I could feel his anxiety but also, strangely, relief.

"You're relieved?" I asked, puzzled.

"You said we could get past this," he admitted, sheepishly. "You were so angry last night, so upset. I wasn't sure that you would think that today. If you'd even still be here when I got up."

I had to stifle a smile. He was older than dirt and he still knew less about relationships than I did. "Eric, I'm in this for the long haul. I'm not going to leave you every time we have a fight. But at the same time, you have to make this better. We need to work through this."

"I guess I panicked," he acknowledged with a sigh. "It's got nothing to do with you being a _mere human_." He copied my quotes and we both smiled, easing the tension. "You know I couldn't give a fuck about that. I couldn't care less whether it makes me less regal or not. Like I said to Victor, I do not follow precedent and I bonded with you because I wanted to."

"Then why?" I asked.

"When Giselle came over I knew that if I didn't act like my old self, the whole room would see what you meant to me. See how much I love you…"

"And that's a problem because…?" I stepped away from him, suddenly irate again.

"Don't you see Sookie, I've lived a thousand years because I've had no weaknesses that anyone could exploit. The only person I've ever really cared about in that time is Pam and she's strong enough to protect herself. Then you come along and finally I have a chink in my armour. If my enemies know how much you mean to me, they have a weapon against me. That means threats to your safety or worse every time someone wants to challenge me. Look at what happened with Sophie-Anne." He groaned with frustration. "Like I said, I panicked. I should have had a better plan when I brought you here. You should never even be on Victor's radar in the first place…"

I put my arms around him, rubbing my hands on his back to soothe him. "Well I am on his radar, so we'll just have to deal with Victor together. I understand your reasoning Eric, I really do. I guess the only thing to say is next time we need to think a bit more about how we play things and you _have_ to talk to me." I smiled cheekily. "I'm not a mindreader, you know."

He grinned at that and drew me in for a hug. "I'm sorry I hurt you," he replied sincerely.

"Okay then," I said, nuzzling into his chest.

"Okay then," he agreed. "So are we friends again?"

"We are."

"Just friends? Or friends with benefits?" he asked suggestively, grabbing my thighs and lifting me up so my legs straddled his waist. I could feel my body respond as he held me tight against him. God, this man could make me go from angry to aroused in seconds. It was frightening and exhilarating all at the same time.

"Oh I think being your friend definitely has a certain upside…" I giggled, leaning in for a kiss as he carried me into the bedroom.

0-0-0-0-0

Eric stepped out of the bathroom as I was finishing off my make-up. I'd needed very little, just a touch of mascara and some lip gloss, as I'd taken some of Eric's blood again and my skin and hair looked radiant. Eric had pulled on a a pair of black pants and was buttoning up a scarlet shirt. He looked scrumptious. Good enough to eat.

He caught me looking at him and smiled smugly. "I can feel your lust through the bond, Lover."

"That bond works both ways, buddy," I smiled, standing up to check out my reflection for the last time in the long mirror. My dress was pale grey silk with barely there straps and a low-cut back. I'd piled my hair up high on my head, so as to expose my neck and back and I could sense, and see, the effect it was having on Eric. I turned to face him and put one hand on his chest, smoothing it down his shirt until it rested lightly on the waistband of his pants. "I don't think I'm the only one..." I murmured suggestively.

"You're right," he agreed, voice full of sex, ghosting his long fingers along my shoulders and down my exposed back. "And if we didn't have to go to this damn reception, I would spend the rest of the night showing you just how right you are."

A delicious shiver ran over me as I contemplated the promise in his words. I grabbed his hand. "Right then," I sighed, leading him to the door. "The quicker we get downstairs, the quicker we can get back to the room."

0-0-0-0-0

Felipe de Castro had arranged a private reception for his summit guests in the casino. Waitresses in super-short red dresses stalked around offering champagne and red berries for the humans and a vein on demand for the vampires. We were all given a little red bucket of $1000 chips with which to bet and Eric and I headed over to the roulette table with Rasul, with Thalia following us a short distance behind.

After an hour or so, Eric excused himself to attend a meeting of the vampire monarchs in Felipe's suite. Thalia went with him and Rasul stayed to keep me company. Despite myself, I actually found I was having fun. Rasul was filling me in on all the casino tricks of the trade and I found myself winning at the roulette wheel, guzzling back the fizz with every lucky roll.

Rasul crooked a finger and beckoned over a blonde waitress. She sidled over seductively offering him her wrist and neck. I rolled my eyes at him. "Do you have to do that here?" I asked, only half joking. "You'll ruin my champagne buzz."

Rasul smiled, in no way offended, and led the blonde over to one of the casino pillars a few yards from the roulette table. I went back to focussing on my winning streak when I felt cold fingers stroke up my bare back. I shuddered as I turned around to see Victor standing behind me. "Delicious," he hissed with a wintry smile.

I jutted out my chin, indignantly. He had gone too far this time. "You're overstepping your boundaries Victor," I asserted, sounding more confident than I felt. As his gaze turned glacial, I was a few pumps of adrenaline away from collapsing on the casino floor. "You know full well I am bonded to the King of Louisiana. Don't touch me again. You may find me delicious but frankly all I feel for you is repulsion."

A few vampires around us snickered at my put down. The muscles in Victor's neck flexed with anger and he narrowed his eyes at me. I could feel his mind attempt to influence mine, like thousands of tiny tentacles creeping over my consciousness. I shook my head at his gaul. "Don't even think about it," I said firmly, turning to walk away from him.

Victor let out a bitter growl. He grabbed my arm roughly and began to pull me away from the table, trying to force me to a less public area of the casino floor. I struggled against him, pushing against his hard chest with my free arm. I heard him then; his thoughts repugnant and dark searing through me like a red hot poker.

_"I'll fucking show you, you little bitch! Once I've killed Northman, Louisiana will be mine and so will you. I'll fuck you till you bleed and beg for me to let you die..."_

I let out a small scream and Rasul was immediately by my side, flashing fang at Victor. I clung to Rasul's arm, knees beginning to give way from under me. "Rasul," I asked, trying to stop my voice from cracking, "would you please take me to find my bonded."

"Of course, Miss Stackhouse," Rasul replied, never taking his eyes off Victor, and lead me off to find Eric.

0-0-0-0-0

The next day, Devon and I made it to the pool for eleven. I let out a huge sigh of happiness as I stretched out on the sun lounger. Knowing that the hotel was bugged, I hadn't had a proper chance to tell Eric last night about Victor's thoughts. All he knew was that Victor had tried to glamour me and that had made him furious enough. But now I felt the sun warming my skin, I was in my favourite bikini and, for a blessed few hours at least, I'd be free of all the vampire shit that constantly plagued my life. I rooted through my purse and pulled out the ipod that Pam had bought for me before I left for Vegas, trying to clear my mind, basking in the rays of the sun.

I opened my eyes a while later and saw Devon looming over me. He'd been sat at a table a few feet away, even though I had tried to insist that he get himself a lounger too. He was in the shade but he'd taken his shirt off in the heat. I'd seen his body before, of course. All of it in fact, the night we killed Hallow. But these circumstances were a little less traumatic and I could really appreciate it now. Alcide was certainly not the only Were that was packing.

"You fell asleep," he said gently, brushing his dark brown hair out of his face. "I left you for a while but I didn't want you to burn."

I blinked rapidly a couple of times, getting the sleep out of my eyes. There was a barrage of thoughts as my senses adjusted. I wasn't used to waking up with so many people in close proximity and in my sleepy state it took me a second before I thought to put up my shields. At the corner of mind, I caught the fragment of someone's thoughts and I sat up with a jolt, suddenly terrified.

"_I know that humans who run with vamps are just as bad as the vamps themselves but what about the people who work here? They aren't all fangbangers are they? They could just be trying to scratch out a living like the rest of us. But they're gonna die too. Doesn't seem right whatever Steve says."_

I leapt off the lounger and looked around me frantically trying to see where the thoughts were coming from but there were hundreds of people outside by the pool. Guests by the pool, by the bar, waiters whirling in and out. It could have been anyone.

"What is it, Sookie?" Devon asked, noticing my alarm. I held a finger to lips as I endeavoured to locate the voice again and attempted to focus.

I found him again seconds later; his thoughts were getting fainter. He was walking away from me.

I let out a small whimper. Oh my God. No.

"Sookie, you're starting to worry me," Devon said, grabbing my arm. "What's going on?"

I looked at him, panic blazing through me, adrenaline starting to burn through my body. I felt sick with fear as I tried to speak. At first the words wouldn't come out, my mouth was dry, my throat completely hoarse. Devon shook me gently.

"Sookie?" he urged.

"Bomb," I managed to say. "There's a bomb in the hotel."

0-0-0-0-0

Devon and I ran into the lobby of the casino. There were people queuing to check in but the concierge desk was free so I made a beeline for it. We needed to get everyone out.

I needed to get Eric out. He was a sitting duck.

"You've got to evacuate the hotel," I yelled breathlessly at the young guy behind the desk. He looked at me with a frown, like I was crazy woman. I looked from me, hair dishevelled and sundress pulled on crookedly, to Devon, still shirtless and panting. It was no wonder really. "There's a bomb," I rasped. "You need to get everyone out!"

"Ma'm, if I could just ask you to calm down..." He held his hands out in front of him as if trying to calm a rabid animal.

"I don't need to calm down," I hissed. People were starting to turn and look at me. Good. "Let me repeat myself..." I looked at his nametag. "Bradley..." I spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "There is a bomb in this hotel. If you do not evacuate the hotel, hundreds of people will die."

"Okay ma'm, can you tell me where the bomb is exactly?" he said looking around him nervously. I thought for a moment that I might be getting through to him but checking his thoughts, I realised he thought I was a loon and that he wanted his manager to come help deal with me.

"I, I don't know exactly where it is. I just know there is one," I admitted. Shit. This really wasn't going very well.

Bradley looked at me sceptically. "I see. And so how do you know there is one?"

Because I'm a telepath, you fucking idiot! That wasn't going to convince him I was any saner. "Bradley," I tried to calm my voice. "We're in a lot of danger and we don't have much time. Are you going to help or not?"

He smiled at me condescendingly. "Of course ma'm, if you'll just take a seat over there, I'll call my manager and she..." Devon sighed beside me, clearly irritated, and jogged off towards the elevators. I looked around me, panic flooding my brain. There just wasn't time for this but I didn't know what to do. I felt a frustrated tear escape down my cheek and I wiped it away with the back of my hand. That wasn't going to help to convince Bradley that I wasn't a lunatic.

"I'm not insane Bradley," I interrupted. "And I don't have time to wait for your manager. You need to call the emergency services and you need to evacuate the hotel and you need to do it now," I said firmly, calmly as I could but there was still a hint of alarm in my voice.

I looked around for Devon, hoping for some moral support, but I couldn't see him. All of a sudden a shrill noise began to blare through the casino and for an instant everyone in the lobby, including Bradley and me, stopped what they were doing trying to fathom out what was going on. Seconds later the hotel sprinklers erupted, cold water spraying all over the casino floor.

Fire alarm.

People began to shriek and run for the doors of the hotel to escape the water. I felt someone tug on my arm and spun round to find Devon with a victorious look on his face. "Plan B," he asserted grimly. I nodded and he pulled me by the hand towards the elevators. I pushed the buttons frantically but they had all stopped working, clearly linked somehow to the fire alarm.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I had to get to Eric. We didn't have much time.

"Stairs," Devon growled, grabbing my hand again and leading me towards the fire escape where scores of people were filing out towards the exit. We were the only ones going up, pushing frantically against the throng.

Our suite was on the seventeenth floor. By floor six I was gasping for breath. By twelve my legs were freezing up, acid flooding my muscles. I thanked God that I had so much vampire blood in me, otherwise I doubted I would have made it to the top. We reached seventeen, sweating and heaving for air, and hauled ourselves along the corridor.

There was plenty of activity on the penthouse floor as the human and Were employees of the vampire royals buzzed around dramatically although there was little move to evacuate. Clearly those of us who spent all their time in the company of vampires had a slightly less well-developed sense of self-preservation.

"There's a bomb in the casino," I screamed as loud as I could, drawing their attention. "We need to get everyone out. Now."

Before I could prepare myself for more sceptical looks, the corridor shook as the deep rolling roar of an explosion sounded floors below us. The sound of the bomb was quickly obscured by screams as those around us began to acknowledge the situation.

"The elevators are down," Devon shouted into the now terrified din, "you need to use the fire escapes." If people heard him, they didn't acknowledge it, as they scrambled down the corridor. We didn't have time to explain again. Patrick had pushed through the crowd and made his way towards us, looking anxious but calm enough.

"Devon, we need to get Eric," I shouted frantically. Adrenaline was pumping hard through my veins; the only thing louder than the panicked screams around me was my heartbeat pulsing thunderously in my head. "Patrick, can you get Rasul and meet us at the stairwell?"

He nodded and ran off towards Rasul's room as a second explosion rocked through the building, knocking him sideways into the wall as Devon and I clung to each other to keep steady. We staggered our way into the suite as I slipped in the key, opening up into a room full of silent darkness. I tried to switch on the light to no avail and stumbled into the bedroom, Devon right behind me. Another ripple tore through the building and I was thrown towards Eric at the foot of the bed, falling awkwardly on my knees with a cry. As I made my way towards him, my subconscious registered that there was more than one bomb and the second one had been higher up, closer to us.

We were running out of time.

I tried shaking Eric, screaming at him to wake up but he didn't stir. I hit him, hard, across the face and he groaned but didn't move. "Daylight," he moaned softly, as I hit him again begging him to wake up, tears streaming down my cheeks.

Devon was dragging Eric's travel coffin in from the sitting area. "We need to get him in this and then we need to get the fuck out of here," he yelled breathlessly. He'd been fairly composed up to now but I could tell from his thoughts that he was starting to lose it too. For the first time, I considered the fact that we might not get out of the hotel alive.

Devon grabbed Eric's legs roughly and I reached under his body and grabbed him under the arms. He was a dead weight, literally. There was no way I would have been able to do this on my own, vampire blood or not. The sheets slipped off Eric's naked torso as we staggered towards the box and shoved him crudely in, slamming down the lid with force.

"Let's go," Devon yelled and we began shuffling the coffin along the carpeted floor, one of us at either end as if we were moving a couch into a new house. "Faster Sookie," Devon urged as another tremor swept through the building, making me stumble.

I looked up to see Patrick pushing a similar box towards us. He'd got Rasul. My mind flitted briefly to Thalia and Maxwell Lee but there was nothing we could do. There wasn't enough time.

"How are we going to get them down the stairs?" I asked, voice high with panic.

"We'll just have to push them down," Patrick replied, shoving Rasul's box through the door of the emergency stairwell and pausing at the top of the concrete stairs. He pivoted Rasul's coffin on the top step and then let go. With a clatter it hurtled down the steps, smashing into the wall at the next floor but remaining closed and in tact. Devon and I lined up Eric and did the same. I let out a huge sigh of relief when the coffin slammed into the back of Rasul's, again remaining on one piece.

We ran down after the coffins and repeated the process down each flight until we got to the second floor. There was dust and debris everywhere around us, making it hard to breathe, coating us and the coffins in a muddy film. The sprinklers had stopped in this area of the building but I could still hear the faint sound of the alarm. I ran down the stairwell, stepping gingerly over the wreckage, to see if we could get through, screaming with frustration when I saw that the ceiling had caved in. Our exit was blocked.

"What now?" I yelled frantically, as we pushed the battered coffins out into the second floor corridor.

"We need to leave the vamps here," Patrick advised sternly, looking me directly in the eye. "Find another way out. We tried our best but this building is going to collapse any minute and they're slowing us down."

"No," I screamed hysterically. "I'm not leaving Eric. And neither are you. You're being paid to protect his life, so fucking protect him."

He glowered at me for a second, the wolf in him becoming more and more apparent. "Fine," he snapped. "But you're going to get us all fucking killed."

"Window," Devon interrupted, panting. "It's our best bet. We'll push them out the window and then jump. Patrick and I can shift, we'll probably land okay but Sookie, you could..."

"Let's do it," I said firmly. It was the only plan we had. I'd take the chance.

The next few minutes went by in a blur. We approached the window where the glass had been blown out from an explosion and pushed the coffins out into the gardens below. Patrick and Devon stripped and shifted immediately, leaping through the window into the unknown. I looked down to see that they had both made it okay and one of them was nudging Rasul back into his coffin, his limp body was splayed across the grass and was starting to smoulder in the sunlight. I noted with relief that Eric's box was still closed tight. All that was left to do was for me to jump.

I hit the grass with a yelp. I managed to roll a little when I made contact with the ground like they did on television but I landed awkwardly on my ankle and I heard it crunch. Paramedics were already at the scene and a couple of them ran over towards me to help. I looked around for my Weres and saw them appear discretely from behind one of the fountains, in human form again, shirtless and barefoot but in jeans. They ran over to me and crouched down to check I was ok. I enveloped them both in an awkward hug, tears streaming down my face.

A thunderous crash broke up our celebrations. I looked up to see the entire east wing of the Incubus, battered and smouldering, collapse in on itself in a torrent of dust and rubble. People screamed as they viewed the destruction and I closed my eyes, feeling the sting of my exhausted tears.

My ankle was broken and I had a number of cuts and bruises, mainly from the glass. The paramedics wanted to take me off to the hospital but I refused, telling them to strap up my ankle. There would be people and vampires trapped in the rubble. I had a skill no one else had; I could help find survivors. I knew that I had to try.

Devon and I made sure that Eric and Rasul were taken off to a safe, light-tight place, while Patrick wandered off to talk to the emergency services. He came back with three yellow jackets and three hard hats.

"Plenty of Weres on the police force," he explained with a thin smile. "They're grateful for the extra noses and, well, whatever it is you've got."

I nodded and, using Devon, for support, hobbled over to the wreckage. The barrage of minds was overwhelming; the panic and fear of those trapped and in pain assailing my mind. Devon gripped my hand tightly, sensing my discomfort, and I began to breathe deeply and tried to focus. We worked for hours; me identifying areas where people were trapped and assessing what kind of state they were in, Devon and Patrick leading the rescue workers in the right direction.

It took the emergency services a little while to work out how to deal with the vampires that were exposed to daylight, so some of them were charred beyond recognition before they were covered with blankets and evacuated to the light-tight compound. If truth be told, the focus was on getting the human survivors out first. I couldn't disagree with that, I suppose. At the end of the day, humans were more fragile, less likely to survive, but part of me felt aggrieved on behalf of the undead. Vampires hadn't done this. Humans had.

A couple of hours in I traced some voids that turned out to be Thalia and Maxwell Lee, trapped under some debris but, to all intents and purposes, still in one piece. Part of Maxwell Lee's body had been exposed to the sun so his left foot and arm were badly burned but I was sure he would make it.

So many hours had passed and soon the sun was beginning to set and exhaustion was beginning to sweep through my body. My ankle was stiff and swollen, a permanent dull throb despite the heavy-duty painkillers the paramedics had given me. Human corpses were lined up along the grass, covered by thin blue sheets, the blood fountains of the Incubus gardens still flowing and creating a chilling background behind them. I let out a sigh when I saw Bradley being covered by a paramedic. He hadn't made it but nothing in me felt good about that.

"The vampires will be waking up soon," I said to Devon with a grimace. "And they'll be hungry." Devon nodded at me, catching my meaning, and went off to warn the emergency services.

I relaxed my mind again and felt the brain pattern of another vampire, a void. It was faint but I could still make it out. "There," I pointed, showing Patrick where I meant.

"Vampire?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing the horizon.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Sun's not down yet."

I looked around for some rescue workers but they were all occupied around us. Patrick shrugged and helped me over to the pile of debris I had identified and we started to claw at the rubble, lifting it away.

I gasped when I saw him, bloody and grimy, so unlike his usual immaculate self. His arm was trapped, crushed, under a pile of concrete, and there was a shaft of wood protruding from his stomach.

Victor.

"You know him?" Patrick asked, giving me a look that was both curious and concerned.

"Yes," I nodded, staring blankly at the vampire in question. "He wants to kill Eric." I felt nauseous and numb at the same time. "He plans to take Louisiana and to make me his." I could barely get the words out, they were bitter on my tongue. Of all people who had died today, Victor had made it through. The Fates really did have a wicked sense of humour.

Victor began to groan as the sun sunk down into the horizon. I couldn't move. I just stared at him as he stirred, unable to help him, unable to call for help. I knew exactly when he was fully awake; he hissed with the pain and began to struggle against his restraints. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked at me standing over him, cold black eyes blazing with hunger and fear.

Beside me Patrick reached over, yanking the wood from Victor's belly. Victor screamed in anguish as the debris was removed, blood pooling in his abdomen. His scream seemed to knock me from my daze. I went to make my way toward the wreckage trapping his arm; I looked around me for extra help, not sure if we'd be able to shift it without help. Before I could move, Patrick brought down his arm with a grunt, violently plunging the wooden shaft into Victor's chest. Victor let out a curdled cry before disintegrating into a pool of bloody ooze, seeping into the concrete around him.

"Oh my God," I wheezed, holding my chest, trying to catch my breath. "You, you killed him." Deep down I knew I was glad, or at least I was relieved, but I was also shocked by the pre-meditated brutality of it. Victor had been evil but he had also been injured and defenceless.

"It's like you said," Patrick growled, tossing the stake onto Victor's bloody remains. "I'm being paid to protect Eric's life. That's what I did."

He walked away, leaving me to sink down into the rubble, reeling. I sat there filthy and exhausted, sobbing dirty tears for all that had been lost today.

0-0-0-0-0

The darkness was illuminated by makeshift floodlights and the coloured lights of the emergency vehicles. I don't know how long I sat there in the debris motionless, hypnotised by the lights, listening to the yells of the rescue workers as they found more survivors.

Suddenly I felt feelings of happiness and relief thunder through the bond, warming me to my toes, and I looked around knowing Eric was near. He stalked towards me, eyes boring into mine, and then he smiled. In that moment I felt safe and loved, the events of the last twelve hours washing away. I pulled myself up from the ground, wincing slightly at the increased pain in my ankle, and Eric scooped me up in his arms, pulling me tightly into him, feathering kisses over my face and finally settling on my lips for a soft but intense kiss that made my stomach clench with joy.

He carried me over to an area away from the commotion, sitting himself down on the grass and cradling me in his lap.

"You're hurt?" he asked, gesturing to my ankle.

"I broke it," I informed him grimly. "Jumping out of a second floor window. That flying shit's not as easy as it looks, you know," I joked.

He smiled, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "Let me heal you."

I ran my hand through his hair, which was not tied back, and briefly wondered where he had managed to get clean clothes that fit so well in such short notice. He looked so good, and smelt wonderful. I felt filthy in comparison but knew it didn't matter. "That would be great," I agreed with a smile. "The drugs have worn off and it hurts like a sum'bitch."

Eric undid the cuff on his shirt and bit into his wrist, placing it at my mouth as blood began to drip along his arm. I latched on to the wound, taking in all he had to offer until the wound closed up. I felt a surge of lust roll through the bond as Eric groaned underneath me and I rolled my eyes with a bloody smile. My ankle began to tingle immediately and I could almost feel the bone knitting itself back together. After a second I tried to flex it, doing little circles with my foot. There was no pain.

"Thank you," I said with a soft kiss to his lips. I made to get out of his lap. I wanted to go somewhere, anywhere away from here, but he pulled me back to him.

"You could have died," he whispered urgently, pain evident on his beautiful face. "Again… You shouldn't have come back for me. You could have been killed…"

I shifted around in his lap and grabbed him firmly by both shoulders. "Listen to me Eric Northman," I said resolutely. "I love you. You are the most important thing in my world and I would risk my life every day for you, rather than contemplate a world without you in it. I know you would do exactly the same for me, so stop being so goddamn high-handed for once and just say thank you Sookie."

"Thank you Sookie," he replied softly, mouth curving up into a slight smile as he planted a tender kiss on my forehead. "I love you too. More than anything in world. You are both the bane and the light of my undead existence."

"That's more like it," I said with a grin, nuzzling into his chest. After a while, I pulled away, hopping up off the ground and testing out my new ankle.

"So what's next, your majesty?" I asked. I needed a bath, that was for sure, and some clean clothes. And I realised for the first time today that I was absolutely starving.

He looked at me with a wry grin. "Well, we are in Vegas…" he suggested, eyebrow raised.

What? Did he want to go gambling? I looked at him, my brow knitted in confusion. After the events of today, all I wanted to do was find a new hotel, wash my face and order room service.

"And the VRA has just passed…" he continued.

I tilted my head to one side, chewing my lip, still puzzled and requiring clarification.

"And we both agree that we love each other and can't imagine a world without the other…"

He looked at me, earnestly, his smile was gone and his eyes were imploring me to understand. I felt a trickle of anxiousness seep through the bond as a sudden rush of comprehension washed over me.

Holy shit.

"Eric?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little light-headed. "Did you just ask me to marry you?"

**A/N: So there you have it, the final chapter but one. I'd love to hear your thoughts so please review. Those of you who leave me some review love will get a sneaky preview of the final instalment…**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Told ya this one wouldn't take as long!**

**I was bowled over by all your amazingly kind reviews for the last chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed and generally supported this story over the last few months.**

**A few of you were asking about a sequel to Lifting the Veil. Although I'd never say never, one of the things that I enjoyed doing with this story was taking the bits out of the books that I loved the best and using them for my own nefarious means. I'm not sure it will be easy for me to come up with a quality sequel with what remains and let's face it, there's very few bad guys left for me to stake! **

**That said, I definitely plan to write some more SVM stories and have a few ideas knocking around already. So if you're interested to read more, please add me to your author alerts.**

**Anyway without further ado (or should that be "I do"?) Here it is.**

**Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.**

"Eric?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little light-headed. "Did you just ask me to marry you?"

He looked at me, seemingly paler than usual, wave upon wave of nervous energy coursing through the bond. He ran his fingers through his hair, looking a little flustered and more human than I'd ever seen him.

"I think I did," he said with a big smile. "As you can see I planned this proposal to the last detail, everything down to the highly romantic setting..." He gestured to the rubble and smoke that used to be the Incubus and I let out a snort.

"And I knew you were planning it," I said, playing along. "So I made sure to look my best for the occasion..."

"Sookie, you do know that when I said that I like my women dirty, that's not what I meant?" he teased. I laughed and we shared a smile.

Eric went quiet for a second and anxiousness crept through the bond once more. He frowned. "You didn't answer me," he murmured.

"Oh God, Eric," I said hurriedly. "I didn't mean to keep you hanging. Of course I'll marry you. Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife."

A huge grin crept across his face and it made my heart flutter in a whole new way. He scooped me up, kissing me with reverence and every cell in my body knew I'd do anything to bind myself closer to this man. I loved him and I knew I would love him forever.

"Mrs Northman," he mused, setting me back down on the grass after another kiss that had curled my toes and melted my panties. "That has a certain ring to it, don't you think?"

"Hey buddy, who said I'm changing my name?" I teased.

Eric looked at me, crestfallen. I rolled my eyes. Trust that to be the thing he cared about.

"Okay, okay," I said with a giggle, holding my hands up in defeat. "Sookie Northman it is. God Eric, I swear sometimes you act like you're from the Middle Ages..."

0-0-0-0-0

Devon and I went back to help the emergency services the next day but they were still pulling starving vampires out of the rubble of the Incubus three days later. The number of humans confirmed dead was a catastrophic 137, with another 5 in hospital in critical condition. Ironically, a number of those killed had been the anti-vamp protesters camped out in the front entrance of the hotel. It was impossible to tell how many vampires had died. I knew of at least one but I certainly wasn't going to be confirming the details of his death with the authorities. The FBI were still investigating the bombing and there was a huge public outcry, encouraged by the American Vampire League, to hunt down those who were to blame.

We heard that Felipe de Castro had survived the attack, being found in one of the piles of rubble that I had identified as containing voids. Eric's friend Lexi had also survived although apparently she had lost both her legs in one of the explosions. Eric assured me that vampire limbs did grow back but that it was a long and painful process. Neither of us thought to enquire after Giselle.

Despite Eric's suggestions to the contrary I refused to marry him when he woke the night after the attack. There was no way I was getting married without Gran and Jason there and I knew Pam would be crushed if she didn't get to arrange that bridal shower. So we decided to stay at the Bellagio for a week and Eric arranged to fly our nearest and dearest out for a Vegas wedding.

Getting married in a chapel in Las Vegas certainly wasn't what I'd dreamed about when I was a little girl but I honestly couldn't have been happier. Once we'd made the decision to get married, we both just wanted to do it as quickly as possible and, let's face it, Eric and I weren't exactly a conventional couple, so normal rules just didn't apply to us.

Eric and I drove out to meet the jet at midnight, two nights after the bombing. I let out a scream of delight as Gran alighted the steps, holding on to Jason's arm. They were followed down to the tarmac by Amelia, Pam, Tara and JB. My eyes welled up when I saw Alcide emerge at the top of the stairs. He had come, despite everything, and, ignoring Eric's growls, I saved my biggest hug for him.

The next night I went shopping for a dress with Pam, Amelia and Tara. They were a terrifying force to be reckoned with, dragging me to boutique after designer boutique, pulling and primping me in every direction. I finally settled on a vintage oyster silk strapless gown. It hugged my curves beautifully, draping across the bodice and flowing out into an elaborately embellished train. Gran cried when I showed her and I knew then that I had found _the_ dress.

That same night we went out for my bachelorette party. Much to Eric's chagrin, Amelia insisted that we all dress up as sexy cowgirls and hit some of the Vegas night life. Gran came out just for the meal, sporting a pink cowboy hat (but thankfully foregoing the requisite miniskirt and boobtube). Despite protests from Amelia and Tara, I had refused to go to a strip club, deeming it way too tacky, but when I fell into our suite at 3am fuelled by pink champagne and too many gin and tonics, I found a certain vampire there waiting for me in a Stetson and chaps ready to give me a show of his own. I was more than thrilled to spend the rest of the night playing rodeo, keeping my cowboy boots on at Eric's request...

0-0-0-0-0

Three nights before the wedding Eric and I were sat in Cartier as one of the assistants brought out trays and trays of wedding bands for us to choose from.

"What do you think?" I sighed, dazed and confused by the overwhelming choice. "I just can't decide what to go for."

"I'm sure I will love whatever you choose for us, Lover," Eric said with a smile, ignoring the assistant who was drooling at him from across the table. "Although may I recommend against going for something in silver," he joked.

My smile went flat as something twigged at the back of my mind. Silver wedding rings. I tried to concentrate on that thought, as Eric looked at me perplexed.

_"I know that humans who run with vamps are just as bad as the vamps themselves but what about the people who work here? ... they're gonna die too. Doesn't seem right whatever Steve says."_

Steve.

My thoughts flashed to Carl in the warehouse after the attack at Fangtasia, so many weeks ago. Texas. The leader of the Fellowship of the Sun was in Texas.

Silver rings. Steve. Texas. Bombings at the Incubus. Steve. Loathing fangbangers. Shootings at Fangtasia. Steve.

The connection was tenuous but my instincts told me I was right. Steve Newlin. He was the link.

"Eric," I whispered, trying not to attract the attention of the store assistant. "I think I know who was responsible for bombing the Incubus..."

0-0-0-0-0

Eric followed protocol and phoned Felipe de Castro with the information. We hadn't told him that I was telepathic but after my actions to find the survivors, we knew it wasn't going to be a secret from the wider vampire community for much longer. At least Patrick's contacts on the police force had agreed to conceal my identity from the human authorities. De Castro was extremely grateful for the intelligence and, asked Eric and I to meet him at his hotel suite at the Venetian, which he also apparently owned.

We went to the hotel a few hours later. Eric had made sure that we had a full vampire contingent with us, including Pam, just in case Felipe had somehow found out that Patrick and I were complicit in Victor's death.

"Meez Stackhouse. Eric," he drawled, accent heavy, as we were shown into the suite by his guards. "Thank you for coming."

"It's my pleasure your majesty but please do call me Sookie," I replied with a slight curtsey.

"Sookie," he continued, as if testing the name out, rolling it over with his tongue. "I have heard about the part you played in evacuating my hotel and all your exploits to rescue your bonded and to help find me and the other survivors. I invited you here because I wanted to thank you personally."

"It was the least I could do, your majesty," I replied, honestly.

He smiled, artlessly, at us both and continued. "I also called you here to tell you that, with the permission of your King of course," he nodded at Eric, "the State of Nevada would like to extend its formal protection to you..." I was somewhat bewildered and De Castro smiled at my confusion. "As such, any attack on your person would be answered not just by the Kingdom of Louisiana but also by Nevada."

I opened my eyes in amazement. Did Felipe just say he'd go to war if anyone hurt me? I looked to Eric for guidance. He beamed at me and nodded and I could feel oceans of pride flowing through the bond.

"Thank you your majesty," I replied, still slightly staggered. "I am incredibly honoured."

"Good, good," Felipe agreed with a genuine smile. "Now onto less formal matters, I have heard about your plans to get married this week in Las Vegas..."

Oh shit. I immediately panicked. Did he want an invitation? We were getting married in his town after all. I started stuttering something about invitations not having been sent out yet but thankfully Eric stepped in.

"That is correct Felipe. However we have chosen to have a small intimate reception for the wedding itself; less than a dozen close friends, family and members of my retinue," he explained calmly. "We expect to have a more formal vampire reception at some point later in the year."

Felipe laughed. "Eric," he replied with a smile, "you mistake my reason for raising the issue. I was not, how do we say, angling for an invite. On the contrary, I would like to offer you the use of my estate in the Nevada mountains as an alternative location to hold the wedding."

He turned to me to explain. "There is a beautiful old chapel in the middle of the grounds, covered in roses and night-blooming jasmine. It really is idyllic."

"It sounds wonderful," I replied trying to keep my voice neutral but secretly screaming inside to Eric as to how much I wanted to accept Felipe's offer. I looked at Pam who seemed to be doing the same. She'd never been too hot on the Vegas chapel idea in the first place, no matter how classy the reception was going to be.

I squealed with delight when Eric smiled indicating that we could accept and ran up and gave Felipe a hug. "Thank you," I said breathlessly as Eric nodded his thanks in a more kingly fashion, although I noted that the corners of his mouth were turned up into a faint smirk.

"No thank you, Sookie," Felipe rejoined with a knowing smile. "Nevada will forever be in your debt..."

The suggestive tone of his voice made me think he might be referring to more than just the bombing but I shook my suspicions off as Eric and I said our goodbyes and made our way back to the hotel.

0-0-0-0-0

Gran and I walked along the winding path from Felipe's mansion to the chapel, intermittent torches and candles lighting our way. The chapel was as beautiful as Felipe had described, quaint and charming, overladen with heavily-scented flowers.

We approached the door and I stopped for a second to compose myself as Gran smoothed out the train of my dress. This was right. I knew it with my heart, my soul and every cell of my body. Sure Eric and I would have our ups and downs but we would face any trials that life threw at us, together. I knew without doubt that I loved him unreservedly and he me. I'd never been more sure of anything in my life.

I looked at Gran whose eyes were sparkling with unshed tears, mirroring my own. "Thank you," I whispered. She nodded with a warm smile, kissing me gently on the cheek, knowing exactly what I meant.

"Let's get you to your handsome man," she whispered and I nodded my assent. I could feel ripples of anticipation ghosting through the bond and I knew it was time.

0-0-0-0-0

I lay in bed with my head on my husband's chest, sated and blissfully content, running light circles over his torso with my fingers.

"I meant what I said today, you know," he murmured, kissing the top of my head, "about till death do us part."

"I know," I said softly, matter-of-factly. "So did I."

He was quiet for a second. "I meant it until my death though," he sighed, turning his head away from me, voice low, frustrated and full of unspoken feeling. "Otherwise it's just not enough for me."

I placed my hand gently on his cheek, turning his face back towards me. "I know," I repeated, steadily. A pause. "So did I."

I felt Eric still and then he shifted in the bed, pulling himself out from under me so that he was looking me in the eyes. "Sookie, are you saying...?"

"Yes," I nodded with a smile, eyes glistening with emotion. "I've been thinking about it for a while now, certainly since you lost your memory. What type of person would I be if I just left you alone, knowing it was within my power to stay with you for eternity. I love you. I told you before Eric, I'm in this for the long haul."

He looked at me for a second, shock and amazement evident on his gorgeous face, and then his lips crashed into mine with a kiss that took my breath away. I felt such intense love, such incredible happiness coasting through the bond, that I gasped at the overwhelming feeling of it all. I broke the kiss, looking into Eric's eyes.

"Not until Gran is gone," I said firmly. I knew I only had a limited amount of time with her and I wanted days as well as nights. "But after that, I'm yours for infinity..."

"It's a good thing I like your grandmother as much as I do," he joked, raising an eyebrow. I laughed, playfully slapping his arm.

"But then we'll have forever," I added, serious now, voice heavy with the promise of eternity.

A tender kiss to my forehead turned into a soft smile as he agreed. "But then we'll have forever."

**A/N: So I hope you enjoyed it. I'm not sure if the decision to turn Sookie is controversial or not? By all means let me know your thoughts. I, for one, have always thought that that's the only way Sookie and Eric can ultimately work (which scares me a little in relation to the books). Eternity with Eric and Pam sounds just fabulous to me!**

**I'm dangerously close to 500 reviews, so if you enjoyed the epilogue and the story as a whole, please make my day and leave me a review. **

**Finally if you want see the inspiration for Sookie's wedding dress, check out the beautiful Rachel Weisz here: www . soundoffcolumn . com/images/rachel-w-2-07 . jpg**

**Thanks again for reading my little story! X x **


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